Stuck in Shadows
by Imagine Brittana
Summary: AU. Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.** This story is inspired by a short film called 'SHELL' by WongFuProductions. It's so beautiful and I think you should all check it out, it's amazing. If you do, you should know straight away, depending on if you read or watch first, how it inspired me. () /watch?v=VSkYbgxl93Y

There are a few memories in this chapter, but if you can put up with them I promise there won't be as many in the next ones, unless you want them. They're needed for the story :)

**Important:** Memories are in the present tense, and the rest of the story is in the past tense. So, it's not me forgetting which tense I'm using when it changes.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the Glee characters.

* * *

><p><span>Prologue<span>

_No trees are in sight, but bodies certainly are. In every direction I look, all I can see is bloody, mangled men slashing and shooting each other. The ground is a liquid mix of mud and blood, squelching underfoot as I walk. I'd like to say 'We are winning', however it is impossible for me to tell. Both the dead and alive are covered in grime, so much so that the only way I can tell who is who, is by recognising my friends. It's very possible that I have killed my allies._

_I am surrounded by the sound of bodies falling, men's dying screams and gunshots. Every now and then I hear victory cheers, however those are quickly silenced. The smell of blood and death invades my senses, causing me to gag in protest. My uniform is rough against my bruised and damaged flesh; all I want is to tear it off and nurse my wounds, but I know that I still have a war to win. _

_I drop to the ground and wipe the blood, mud and sweat out of my eyes, searching for a suitable cover. Sighting a trench about twenty metres away I check my guns are in place, then spring up and run as fast and hard as I can, resolutely ignoring the bodies of my fallen comrades that I step on in my haste. Reaching it, I smile in relief and tumble over the edge and onto my stomach, panting. I spot a pair of boots walking towards me and I push myself into a sitting position, holding out a hand. Instead of helping me up, however, he kicks me over, aims the gun between my eyes and pulls the trigger, smiling as he does so._

I shot up in bed, eyes darting wildly around the room and breaths coming in short, sharp gasps. Upon finding no danger I relaxed and sank back into the bed, staring at the plain ceiling and cursing my 'gift' once again. I thought back to the first time I ever 'remembered' something; I was three and my mother and father were shouting at each other in the living room, while I was sat at the top of the staircase.

_I am in my cot, playing with my teddy when daddy stumbles up the stairs and knocks a vase over, breaking it on the wooden floor. I start crying, startled by the noise, and Mommy walks out of her bedroom, looking between the vase, Daddy, and me. "Look what you've gone and done now! Do you have any idea how much this cost? You can pay for a new one. Look at her! How long do you think it took me to get her to sleep, huh? Go on, answer me. I'll tell you how long; two hours. Two bloody hours. Well you can put her back to sleep now; see if you can do something right. I'm sure your father couldn't, I mean look how you turned out. And your sister. I pray to God she won't turn out the same way."_

_She doesn't notice the way Daddy's eyes darken, or how he clenches his hands in anger the more she talks. When she finishes talking, he punches her and she falls to the floor, holding her nose. He is shaking with rage and when she stands up and grabs a jagged piece of the vase he just laughs and pushes her aside. She cuts his arm and he screams before shoving her into my bedroom door. She stumbles and he advances, picking up some wooden bricks from a table in my room. Gaining her balance, she picks up a pacifier, placing it in my mouth, and then turnes back to Daddy._

_Holding up her hands she says "Please, Paul, think of her. You don't want to psychologically damage her," seeing him lower his arms and start backing away she adds "especially considering how much she must be already, having you as a father. Well…father _figure_, at least, considering the amount of guys I fucked right before I became pregnant with her."_

"_You bitch!" He screams and lunges at her. She falls and tips my cot back, causing me to tumble out of it and twist my wrist. Mommy is leaning against the cot while Daddy hits her with the bricks, blood falling through the cot bars and onto my teddy. She kicks him hard and scratches his face, but he only stopps hitting her when she stopps moving and rolls off of the cot, facing me. _

I had screamed, scared beyond comprehension by the face that stared back at me. The dead eyes. The blood. Mom and Dad stopped arguing and ran to the stairs. Mom scooped me up in her arms and rocked me from side to side.

"What's the matter, baby?"

"Don't fight! I don't want you to die. Daddy will kill you and you will hurt him and…and…don't fight!"

They looked at each other with worry, before Mom said "of course he won't kill me, he'd never hurt you. Why do you think that?"

"I saw it! There was loads of blood and she was dead," I cried.

Mom glared at Dad, shouting at him while he denied any knowledge of it, with his worried expression still firmly in place, and I continued crying.

I remember feeling scared, but also confused as to who those people were; I knew they were my mother and father, but at the same time I also knew who my real parents were and that they were alive. Needless to say, my 'memories' continued after that; some happy and some sad, but whatever happened I wasn't allowed to talk about them.

It took years, but I managed to guard myself against reacting to the memories – nothing could stop them – and my family. I distanced myself from everyone in school, so everyone feared me and I had no friends. My parents blamed it on puberty. I blamed it on them.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> So, this is more of a _prologue_ than an actual chapter, but eh. It's also incredibly short; know that the rest of the chapters are much longer, if you decide to read on :)

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.** I was so nervous posting this story, I don't think my heart has ever beat that fast before. Thanks for all of the story alerts and favourites. Thank you again, Kaishei, for your lovely review! :)  
>All mistakes are my own; I read through it several times and couldn't find any, but if you notice any could you please let me know? :)<br>You can follow me on tumblr or twitter - ImagineBrittana :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

I pulled up to my parking space and stopped short, noticing an old, beat up car parked in my space. Everyone knew that it was my space, so on principle it and the spaces either side of it were left free for me; they wouldn't forget what had happened to the previous car the last time my space was stolen.

Pulling into the space next to it, I got out and looked it over, not recognising it. Word was that we would have a new girl, so I could only assume that it was hers. That didn't mean that I would let her off with just a warning, however; I held reign at the school, and wouldn't let anyone undermine me. Usually, the car would be in danger, but considering the obvious state of disrepair it was already in, I decided to forgo that and find the owner instead.

I walked into the school and watched the way the crowds parted for me, eyeing me with fear. People had said that the way I acted was destructive, but I had to disagree. This was the only way I was able to protect myself from people; it kept them away and disinterested in learning more about me. They knew what I wanted them to know, and didn't have the desire to learn anything else.

I turned the corner and was assaulted by an icy coldness, dripping down my Cheerio's uniform and pooling onto the floor below me. I looked up and found a blonde girl standing in front of me, slushie cup tilting in my direction, her eyes on my feet. I noticed everyone backing away and forming a wide circle around us.

Glancing over the girl's shoulder, I spotted Rachel Berry hovering awkwardly, looking torn between helping her apparent friend and running as far away from me as she could. A glare soon settled that, as she patted the girl on the back and scurried into the crowd.

I looked back to the girl in front of me and observed her, noting the way she was wringing her hands and resolutely staring at the floor. She was so obviously scared of me, but I didn't know if that was because she knew who I was, or because of something that had happened in her past.

It didn't matter to me either way, because if she didn't know who I was, she soon would. I didn't care if she was the new girl; no one could slushie me and get away with it; if she was let off Scot free, everyone would question their places and my authority in this school.

I coughed and she froze, her hands drifting to her sides, but head remaining firmly tilted toward the ground. "Are you not going to apologise?" I finally asked, unsure of what to make of this person. "I don't know where you're from, but from where I'm from, it's common courtesy to do so."

"Oh! Sorry!" she squeaked, still refusing to look up at me. Instead, she looked to the side and saw the large crowd and stepped back, uneasy with being observed by so many people.

I followed her step and said "I don't think that will cut it. Coach Sylvester won't be happy that my uniform is ruined; she'll have to pay more to have it cleaned. You'll have to pay her back," I smirked, thinking back to her car.

"I-I can't…please, I'm really sorry." She looked up to me, her eyes and voice pleading with me.

My eyes met hers and I was yanked into a memory, unable to do anything but close my eyes before it completely sucked me in.

_I stand in the hallway, chuckling lightly as I remember a funny joke that was on the television last night. Pulling out the books I need for the next lesson, I turn around and am pushed back into the lockers, mine slamming shut and my head hitting the one behind me. My books drop to the floor and he smirks, pushing his body against mine. _

_"What's up, little freak? Talking to your imaginary friends again?" he jeers, the jocks behind him laughing. I shake my head and purse my lips, blinking back the tears threatening to fall. "Awww, is little baby B going to cry, is she going to cry to Daddy? Are you going to tell your ducky everything?" I shove him away from me and try to push past him, but he trips me and stomps on my wrist - breaking it - before walking away._

I grabbed my wrist and frowned, rubbing at the pain I thought was there. My eyes were still closed, and I could hear people murmuring, wondering what I was doing. I wondered how long I had been silent for, but sighed and looked down at the floor and opened my eyes. I was dreading what I was about to do – I hadn't even insulted her yet – but knew that I had to go and regain my composure.

"You're new here and I have a meeting with Coach Sylvester, which I will be late for if you keep me talking any longer. This is your one and only chance – if you cross me again, you'll have much more to worry about than some bills." I turned to Rachel in the crowd, using my best warning voice, "Man-hands, do your job and teach her how to survive."

She snapped her head up to look at me for the second time and my eyes widened. It was the first time that I was able to look at her properly, considering the way that I was assaulted the last time our eyes met.

I was shocked by how bright her eyes were, the different shades of blue swirling together; I could see so much in them, but mostly surprise. Her pink lips curled up into a smile and her eyes sparkled, causing me to reciprocate it before I realised what I was doing. Frowning, I broke the stare and turned in the opposite direction, marching a few steps before stopping and saying "oh, move your car; unless you want to find it, and yourself, wrapped around a tree."

I heard the girl sigh and Rachel start informing her on what she should and shouldn't do in the school, before I swiftly made my way to my locker, trying to understand why I let her go with only a warning. I knew that had it been anyone else, they would have been on the floor quicker than they could say 'sorry', yet I practically asked her for an apology and left her with no fear of me. I tried to persuade myself that it was because of the memory I witnessed, and that I wanted to scope out the possible threat that she presented, but her hanging around with Rachel removed that idea – no one that had Rachel as a friend could ever be considered dangerous, unless it regarded the constant assault on your hearing. Plus, I had seen memories much worse than that, and a simple threat wouldn't arouse any sympathy in me, if it even belonged to that girl – I'd never had a memory belonging to someone alive before, so it seemed unlikely, but not entirely implausible.

Becoming even more confused, I slammed my locker shut and started walking towards Sue's office, deciding that the safest thing to do at that moment would be to ignore her and avoid any other situations where I could be seen as going soft.

* * *

><p>Turning the shower on, I checked that no one else was in the locker room with me before I removed my towel and stepped under the spray. I always liked to be the last one in the locker room, to be able to relax. The shower at the end of the day was the only place I felt like I could completely be myself; at school I was the ice-cold bitch Satan, who had no weaknesses; at home I was the meek and quiet daughter that was supposed to act like a <em>lady<em>. The empty locker room was my go-between; the only place where I didn't have to act a certain way and conform to societal rules and expectations.

As I washed, I felt myself relaxing from the sound of the water hitting the floor and the feel of bitchy-Santana flowing down the drain. Opening my eyes that had closed somewhere along the line, I picked up my bottle of shampoo and noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I met wide blue eyes and dropped the bottle as I scrambled back in shock, slipping on the floor and hitting my head against the tiled wall as I fell.

I groaned and blinked, feeling wet tiles under my body and a hand on my arm. Looking up, I wiped the water - which was still falling - out of my eyes and noticed the new girl crouched in front of me, her wet clothes clinging to her body and hair framing her face. Her lips were moving, so I focussed on listening to what she was saying, pushing past the ringing in my ears.

"-me? Are you okay? You just passed out and I didn't know what to do. Did you hurt yourself?" At this she started running her hands over me and turned her eyes to my body, inspecting it for any damage, presumably. I became painfully aware of my lack of clothing, so I sprang up and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around me and turning the shower off.

She frowned and stood up, still staring at me questioningly. Realising that I hadn't answered her I replied "I'm…um…I'm fine. Good. You surprised me, I just slipped. You should get going now anyway, shouldn't you? Get some dry clothes to change into?"

She smiled, "no, I just came in here to have a shower. My clean clothes are over there." She pointed to a bench where a pile of clothes were folded neatly on top.

Shaking my head, I smirked "you can't shower in here. This is the Cheerios' locker room. The place where only the people at the very top of the food chain can shower. Hanging out with Ru-Paul places you neatly at the bottom. _What a shame_."

"Good, I thought I had the right place! I am a Cheerio, so I can shower here, but I'm afraid that I don't know who Ru-Paul is, so-"

"Wait, what? How can you possibly be a Ch-"

"Easy! Coach Sylvester asked me to join, and I said yes, so-"

"Whatever," I cut her off, "I don't have time for this. Have a shower if you want, but I'm leaving." I gathered my supplies from the cubicle wall and put them in my bag before rapidly drying myself and throwing on my clothes. I opened the door and just before I left I looked back and saw her looking at the floor, dejected. A sense of guilt overcame me and I turned and made my way home, trying not to think of why I was so affected by the new girl.

* * *

><p>I was reclining on my bed, listening to music and forgetting the events of the day, simply staring at the blank white walls in front of me. For most of my childhood, my room had been decorated with pinks and purples, looking like the typical girly room, but when I turned ten I realised that I didn't need to be the daughter my parents wanted, and so painted it white. My parents told me to choose an actual <em>colour<em>, but I wanted the room to feel like I did – blank – I wasn't about to let my room reflect my personality more than I let myself do.

The rest of my room was bare; my walk-in wardrobe and storage cupboards were set into the wall; the only furniture I had in my room was my four poster bed in the centre, white lacy curtains creating a veil around it, and my dresser and drawers against the wall next to the door, all made of dark pine.

Hearing the front door slam shut I groaned and dropped my head back to the headboard, dreading the summon that was sure to happen at any moment. Sure enough, two seconds later a shrill voice pierced the air around me "Santana! Come down here now please, darling."

Rolling my eyes, I pulled my earphones out and pushed myself off of my bed, making my way towards my weekly torture session, courtesy of mother dearest. I walked into the kitchen and sat down on a stall, watching her move around the kitchen and pull various ingredients out of the cabinets.

"We're making your father's favourite tonight; he's been so busy and stressed, he deserves a chance to relax."

"Well you've perfected the recipe, so I'll get out of your way and let you do it." I stood up and moved to walk out of the kitchen, but she grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"I don't know why you insist on being so difficult. You have to help me cook once a week – the rest of the time you can sleep or do whatever you occupy your time with – it's not exactly hard."

"I don't know why you insist on making me cook once a week," I mocked her. "Anna manages the food every other day of the week, so one extra day wouldn't kill her."

All throughout my childhood my mother never lifted a finger in the kitchen, always letting Anna, or many of the other chefs we had over the years, cook instead. A week after my twelfth birthday she seemed to think that it was vital for me to learn how to prepare a meal, and so every Monday after I got home from school I would be herded into the kitchen and given a recipe to follow - with the supervision of the latest cook – while my brother spent hours in the game room. After a while I refused to take part in it, but my mother compromised, and so we would both cook once a week; perfecting our cooking skills, and gaining some precious mother/daughter bonding time.

"You need to know how to cook! How you expect to find a husband is beyond me-"

"Oh, please. You can't cook to save your life; why do you think we have Anna? Father didn't get her to let you relax, he got her because you poison us every time you attempt to make a meal."

"Don't use that tone with me, young lady. Now, you will help me make dinner or your father will be hearing about this."

I glared at her for a moment before muttering "fine," and picked up a knife, starting on the vegetables.

* * *

><p>Forty minutes later the food was in the oven and the dishes had been washed and dried, so I left the kitchen and made my way to my room in silence, thinking about what I was going to wear. Deciding on a simple black shirt and jeans I put them on and sat at my dresser to curl my hair and put on some makeup. I heard a door slam and a shower start, but ignored it as I finished getting ready.<p>

Rising, I left my room and walked downstairs, spotting the dining room table set and ready for our weekly _family dinner_. I entered the kitchen and grabbed the four plates my mother had retrieved, placing them on the mats on the table and then stood behind my chair, while my mother put the cutlery around them, waiting of the rest of my family to appear.

I stood in place behind my chair, and waited until my father had kissed my cheek and sat down in his chair, and my brother had taken his place at the table, before I pulled my own back and sat on it, staring at the plate set before me. My father was still wearing his work clothes, and had his name badge on his shirt, 'Dr Enzo Lopez'. Clearly not everyone in the family had to work hard to look nice for family dinner.

"Have you had your hair cut, Santana?" My dad stared at me, feigning interest, while I rolled my eyes and fiddled with the cutlery.

"No," I answered curtly, ignoring attempt at conversation, and turned my attention to my mother, who had just sat down in her seat and cleared her throat.

"We know how hard you've been working this week, so we decided to make you your favourite. Santana is really getting better at cooking; she'll be ready for bigger things soon. What do you think of it?"

He dished his food out and took a bite of it, face blank while my mother watched eagerly for any reaction. I served myself some food and then handed it to my brother, while my father still deliberated over his answer and my mother looked more apprehensive as the seconds ticked by. Finally, he told us "it's alright. She needs to do better though."

I rolled my eyes, used to this conversation and thoroughly annoyed at the _importance_ of my cooking skills. My brother smirked at me, knowing how much I hated everything to do with our weekly dinners, so I kicked him under the table and he raised his hand, giving me the finger while scratching his face. His family ring rested on his finger and I glared at that, affronted that the _boy_ of the family got some jewellery, while I was given nothing. It's not that I even particularly liked the design – it was sovereign type ring, with a cursive L raised in the centre, over an engraved rose – but that my brother was the favourite – the first born, _and_ a son - and so got whatever he wanted, while I was ignored the majority of the time. Unless they wanted something from me, that is, in which case I was the best daughter in the world.

We ate in silence for a while, the only sound being the scraping of cutlery on plates, until my father asked "how's school going, Santana?"

I swallowed my food and answered "alright. I'm getting As in all my lessons, so the teachers pretty much leave me alone."

"What about Noah Puckerman; how's he getting on?"

I sighed. "I wouldn't know, we don't really talk much."

"Yeah, they don't have enough time for that. You're too busy doing other stuff, right?" Ricardo wiggled his eyebrows.

I grimaced, groaning at the thought "don't be so disgusting. You're almost as bad as him."

"Why not? He's a great kid; hanging out with him will do you good." My father said.

"Are we talking about the same person? He's a pig, _and_ he's involved in some pretty big illegal stuff."

"Nonsense," my mother joined in "your father and I love him; he'd be a great boyfriend for you. And don't talk with your mouth full; he's not going to want you when you eat like a caveman."

"No, he really wouldn't be. Anyway, how do you even know him?" I asked, completely ignoring her comments about my eating habits.

"I see him at work a lot; he's seemed like a very respectable boy when we've talked to each other," My father said.

I frowned; since when was Puck at the hospital all the time? "I don't want a boyfriend now. I'd just be distracted from school, and I need to keep my grades up."

"You need to settle down," my father said.

"And getting good grades will set me up for that. I'm not old enough to settle down yet anyway."

My father opened his mouth to reply, but the ringing of his phone prevented him from talking any more on the subject. Standing, he muttered "excuse me," and walked from the room, not glancing at us once.

I frowned, but we finished eating our food and just sat in silence, waiting for Father to return from his phone call. I noticed Ricardo glancing between the door and his watch, with a slightly worried look, but when he saw me looking he pulled his phone out and started typing on it. After a few minutes we heard the door slam shut and my mother sighed, starting to clean the table up, while my brother quickly left the room, the front door shutting once again a few seconds later.

* * *

><p>I walked to my locker, keeping an eye out for Berry and her new companion, determined to avoid them at any cost. After I had returned to my room last night I couldn't stop from thinking about her or the effect she has on me, hating myself even as I imagined the way her eyes sparkled in the light. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the thought, possibly making myself look crazier than people already thought I was. I just couldn't stop thinking about her, even if I was thinking about thinking about her; she was constantly on my mind.<p>

Pulling out my Spanish books I contemplated why I was actually avoiding her; from what I had seen, as soon as it came to physical violence, or even contact, she was scared of her own shadow, and yet here I was: running away from her like a coward.

Closing my eyes, I sighed and gripped the locker door tighter, clearing my mind of everything apart from schoolwork. I pulled back and clutched my books to my chest, slamming the locker shut and storming down the hall, sending any students that were in my path sprawling onto the floor. I just had to avoid her for the rest of the day, so I could think on it properly when I got home; no problem.

Spanish class passed slowly, with the work easy enough for ten year olds, and most of Mr Schuester's choice of words and pronunciation incorrect. Luckily, the other classes flew by, with the work somewhat challenging me, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime. Before getting my food I entered the toilets and sent the girls running out with a glance; I never tired of the power I held at school.

I splashed the water on my face, the dying sound of the toilet flush ringing in the small room as the cool water cleared my mind. Gripping the sides of the sink, I closed my eyes and listened the trickling of the water, enjoying the small bit of peace between lessons. My mind had felt cluttered all day and the headache I'd had on and off didn't help my concentration at all.

I was stood at the last sink in the room and pulled some tissue paper out of the dispenser, turning the tap off as I did so. I dried my face and turned to the door, when it slammed open and a blonde figure dashed into the room, stopping a couple of feet in front of me.

"Brittany, wait!" Rachel ran into the room behind her, slamming into her back before she registered that she had stopped. She turned to me and stumbled back, her eyes widening comically.

I turned my gaze back to _Brittany_, noticing for the first time that her face and chest was covered in blue, which was slowly dripping down onto the floor beneath her. I supposed it was just as well she was wearing a Russian fur hat, as it protected a lot of her hair from damage; the same couldn't be said for the rest of her outfit, however. Her thin white top was soaked through and clinging to her body, with her bra starting to discolour as well; there wasn't much material to her denim shorts, so they were relatively unscathed, with just a few dark patches that could be mistaken as the design gracing them.

I tore my eyes away from her clothes and back up to her face; her eyes were glassy and red, and she was rapidly blinking, most likely trying to dislodge the slushie that had taken residence there, or to stop from crying.

"I'm…uh so sorry, Santana. We'll leave and find another bathroom, won't we, Britt? It's no problem." Rachel grabbed at Brittany's arm, trying to pull her backwards with herself, but she was stuck in place, not moving an inch.

I looked back and forth from Rachel's face to Brittany's, unsure of what to do, until I realised that she looked like she was about to completely break down any minute, and I didn't want to be around to witness that. I started moving towards the door, throwing the tissue I was holding down a toilet as I passed. Brittany flinched back violently at the movement of my arm and I stopped moving, unable to stop the hurt from spreading across my face.

She was pressed against the sinks, as far away from me as she could possibly get, and averted her eyes just before I could make eye contact, looking guilty as she did so. I cleared my throat and hardened my expression once again, rushing to the door and glaring at Berry as I passed, which she didn't notice, as her eyes were stuck firmly to floor, refusing to look up.

Pulling the door shut behind me I rested against it and looked to the ceiling for a moment, relishing the silence temporarily gracing the hallway. I didn't know what was happening with me, but one thing was for sure: there was something weird going on with Brittany and I was going to find out what it was, no matter what.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N. <strong>Just to clarify, Brittany only accidentally slushied Santana :)

I'd love to hear any suggestions or requests :)

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

A couple of days had passed since I had last talked to Brittany, and I was glad for that. I'd seen her around school - in the hallways between classes - but she kept to herself and away from me, which I was more than pleased with. While I had decided to figure out what exactly was happening with Brittany, I realised that I should appreciate the silence and chance to think more while I still had it. That luxury had come to an end, however, as it was early morning Cheerios practice; the first one since Brittany had joined the team.

I shut my car door and walked into the school, ignoring the chill in the air. It was 5:30 a.m., and practice started at six, leaving plenty of time for the rest of the team to arrive. Coach Sylvester demanded that I arrive early; being the head cheerleader was tiring work, but I was happy as long as it provided me with the power I was accustomed to. I always made a list of the last ten girls to arrive, singling them out in practice and piling them with the Cheerio chores that no one wanted, which ensured that I wouldn't have to wait around too long to start the practice.

I set everything up, with the help of some Cheerios that turned up while I was doing so, and then sat down on the bleachers, watching as the girls slowly arrived and formed groups, laughing together as they waited for the rest of their friends to arrive. When I noticed that we only had ten people left to arrive, I pulled out my notepad and pen and jotted the girls' names down as they walked past, giving them a glance to let them know that they were late. After five minutes we were waiting on just one girl who was, what a surprise, Brittany.

I could see that the girls were getting impatient, and kept glancing at one another while rubbing their arms, trying to figure out who they were waiting for, while warming themselves up. They formed a big group and started whispering to each other before Quinn, one of the only girls in the school that I actually respected, broke away from them and stated walking towards me, a small smile on her face when she caught my eye.

I sat up straighter, placing the pen and paper by my side and folded my hands in my lap as she slowly approached. I noticed the girls watching anxiously and raised an eyebrow at Quinn as she stopped in front of me, holding her hands in front of her body.

"Captain Lopez," she greeted, inclining her head slightly as she spoke.

"Fabray."

"I was wondering-"

"They were wondering," I corrected, gaze briefly moving to the huddle of girls on the field.

She hesitated "yes…well, why exactly are we waiting? I mean, we've counted, and all of the girls are here."

"Nope." I raised my voice, so everyone else could hear "we have a new squad member. She tried out Monday with Coach and was declared passable. Evidently, Coach wasn't aware of this girl's terrible timekeeping, so I'll be talking to her later, to see if we can get her kicked off. I advise you do the same," I glared, getting my point across.

Quinn nodded and backed off, returning to the group of chattering girls wondering who exactly we were waiting on. Standing, I dusted myself off and decided that we'd waited long enough, but at that moment Brittany came hurtling onto the field, apologising as she did so.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't find my uniform, and then I got lost. I'm really sorry."

Picking up the pen and paper I asked her "full name?"

"Brittany Spears."

"Brittany Spears?" I repeated, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Yeah. Brittany Susan Pierce; Brittany S. Pierce; Brittany Spears."

I scribbled her name down and underlined it a couple of times, reminding myself to give her the most to do, even though I was sure I wouldn't be able to forget.

Throwing it back down on the bench, I stalked towards her and stopped a foot away, watching as she cowered back slightly. "This is the only time you will be late to practice. If I find you even a second late one more time, you'll be off this team quicker than you can say 'diddle diddle'. And you better know what that is. We clear?"

She nodded, scared, looking ready to cry, so I nodded to the girls who had formed a line in front of me and she joined the end, standing with her eyes to the ground. For the rest of the practice I drove them hard, especially the last nine to arrive, and ignored Brittany, only allowing them a five minute break after one of the girls almost collapsed. I noticed her talking to a large group of the girls and laughing, looking like she had fit in well with the rest of the Cheerios already. I frowned, confused – if I had left them waiting in the cold for that long, they'd be bitching about me, not acting as if we were the best of friends.

I marched to the centre of the field and called everyone back, watching as Brittany received a few pats on the back as she passed. When they were all assembled in front of me I looked to Brittany and decided that it was time to show her up and let her lose the friends that she had already apparently made. I smirked and called out her name, directing her to perform the most difficult moves I could think of, and moved back to the bleachers, happy to sit back and watch the disaster unfold right in front of my eyes.

The rest of the squad backed away and offered her words of encouragement, watching with nervous eyes as she prepared herself. She started moving and the smirk slowly fell from my face, leaving me with a dumbfounded expression and wondering how she could move her body in _those_ ways. She executed every move I asked with precision, and occasionally added an extra twist on it, exceeding perfection. My eyes kept drifting to the skin revealed when the pleats of her skirt shifted, and how her muscles contracted with each movement, and when I looked back to her face her eyes sparkled in amusement, catching my leering.

I blushed and stood quickly, bringing the practice to an end by shouting "okay, we know what Pierce's capabilities are now, so we can incorporate her into the routine easily. That's it for today's practice; the next one is tomorrow afternoon. Hit the showers."

I hung back and watched as the girls dragged their tired bodies to the locker room, chattering excitedly about Brittany's skills and how we would be sure to win Nationals. I turned and collected the equipment, taking it back to the Cheerio's shed and picking up my notepad on the way there. I stood in front of the door and shifted the things in my arms, trying to find a way to open it without putting everything on the floor, but a pale hand reached out in front of me and turned the handle, waiting for me to step back before they pulled the door open.

I stepped into the shed and put everything on a pile on the floor, leaving it for the janitors to tidy, and looked to my right where Brittany stood by the door, smiling timidly. I narrowed my eyes slightly, wondering why she had decided to help me when I'd been nothing but horrible to her so far.

Seeing my questioning, gaze she told me "I really am sorry for being late to practice; I know I haven't made the greatest first impression in the world, but I'd like to start over." Noticing my less than impressed face she quickly added "I saw you watching me perform all those tricks…I really think we could be good friends."

"Of course I was watching you; you were the only one performing, and I'd asked you to do those moves; I had to see how good you were." I replied, defensively.

"And how good am I?" she smirked, looking me in the eyes.

I hesitated, surprised at her confidence. "You know what you're doing," I finally said, unsure what exactly I meant by that.

She seemed to pick up on that, as she smiled even brighter and said "Oh, I know…thanks!"

I stared at her for a couple of seconds, before exiting the shed, pulling the door shut behind me and locking it, heading in the direction of the locker rooms. Walking, I saw Brittany fall into step with me out of the corner of my eye, but I looked straight ahead, refusing to glance at her once. I opened the door and let it fall shut behind me, refusing to hold it open for her, ignoring the muffled protest from her as I did so. Most of the girls had finished with their showers and were drying off and dressing, watching with surprise as Brittany stepped in after me.

I ignored them and gathered my supplies from my locker, choosing a shower and removing my clothes as I stepped in. After a couple of minutes the shower next to mine became occupied and Brittany glanced over at me and placed a bottle of shampoo on the wall between us, smiling as she did so.

I furrowed my brow and glanced between the bottle and her eyes, wondering what she was doing. "You left your shampoo in here the other day. I haven't had a chance to give it back to you before, but I figured I should give it to you now, so you can wash your hair properly."

I racked my brain, trying to think of what she was talking about, but I couldn't remember leaving it; I was sure I picked everything up. "Huh?"

"On Monday. You dropped it when you fell in the shower, and forgot to pick it up," she clarified.

I just nodded and looked between her and the bottle again, wary about taking it. "Don't worry, I didn't put hair dye or anything in it…I'd never do something like that," she mumbled, sounding almost sad.

I blanched at the thought, it never having crossed my mind. "Oh, no. I…I never thought you did. I was just surprised, is all."

She smiled and bobbed her head up and down, turning back to the shower and starting to wash herself. Grabbing the shampoo, I squirted some in my hand and noticed Brittany smile to herself, turning her head to try to hide it.

* * *

><p>I blinked and looked around the room groggily, trying to figure out what had woken me up so suddenly. It was dark and the air was slightly chilly; I looked at my clock and the time flashed back at me: 2 a.m. It was silent for a while, so I relaxed back in my bed, sweeping my hair off my face and reaching for my glass, my throat aching. It was empty, so I sighed and stood up, dragging myself away from the warmth of my bed and into my en-suite bathroom.<p>

I filled it up with some cool water and turned to go back to my bedroom, when I heard a noise coming from downstairs. Placing my glass on the side, I quietly opened the door and padded down the hall, stopping at the railings at the end. I looked down and could see some footprints on the wooden floor, trailing from the front door to the shoe closet under the stairs. Raised voices from my father's office drifted up to me, and it sounded like my brother was with him.

I could only hear odd words here and there, but when I moved to step down the stairs the floor creaked and the speaking stopped. My father's office door swung open and he marched out, looking up at me with a stern expression on his face.

"What are you doing up?"

"I heard voices; I wondered what was happening." I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"Nothing's happening. Go back to bed, Mija."

"Why were you shouting?" I questioned, not wanting to let it go that easily.

He smiled tightly, "just a work problem, nothing to concern you. You have school tomorrow; you better go back to bed."

I nodded and walked back to my bedroom, glancing back once and noticing Rico stood in the doorway, watching me uneasily.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Sorry this chapter is short; I split it in two, for reasons that I don't want to give just yet. Loads happens in the next chapter, I'd love to see if anyone has any ideas about what's coming up :D

I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review to let me know what you thought, and if there's anything you'd like to see!

Follow me on Twitter or tumblr at imaginebrittana. www . imaginebrittana . tumblr . com


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thank you Alex Ryzlin Gold for your review and the help :)

All mistakes are my own.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

I yawned, parking my car and checking my makeup in the mirror. After I had gone back to bed last night it took me hours to go back to sleep, unable to turn my mind off enough to relax.

I walked into school and paused, turning around and going back through the doors, wondering if I was imagining it. Looking around, I noticed a few men spread around the school entrances, watching people enter, especially the girls. I recognised a few of them, but couldn't think where I had seen them before, until I noticed Puck stood next to one of them, talking and laughing. I looked closer and noticed that each man was accompanied by a male student at McKinley; mostly the jocks. I narrowed my eyes at them, wondering what they were doing, and noticed how every now and then they would write something down while looking at a light-haired girl.

I started walking over to Puck, determined to find out what was going on, but one of them noticed and signalled to the others, turning around and leaving the premises, but not before whispering something to Puck, who nodded and glanced at me before walking in the opposite direction.

Sighing I walked back inside, knowing the bell would ring at any moment. I gathered my books out of my locker and swung the door, about to close it when I noticed Brittany creeping along hall, sticking to the lockers that lined the wall and looking as if she just wanted to sink into them. Her gaze was focused on the ground as she manoeuvred past everyone and avoided any possible body contact.

My eyes followed her, and I moved my locker door with me, covering part of my face in case she looked my way. A boy was walking towards her, and when she noticed she pressed her back flat against the lockers and breathed in, squeezing her eyes shut and waited a few seconds after he had brushed past before relaxing the tiniest bit and started moving again. I slammed my locker door shut and watched as she jumped and looked around with wide eyes, before jerking her head to the ground again, as if she had broken some significant rule.

Rachel Berry walked up to her then and tapped her on the back, causing her to whip around with her arm slightly raised. Rachel stepped back and Brittany raised her hand to her mouth, apologising, but Rachel just shook her head and smiled. They left to go the class together and I could see that Brittany was visibly less tense with Rachel by her side, smiling and laughing at something she had said, no longer looking around as she walked.

The bell rang and I jumped, startled, remembering that I was at school and had classes to get to. I mean, I hadn't just spent my time before lesson watching Brittany S. Pierce. No, not at all; I was just admiring the lockers behind her.

* * *

><p>It was the last class of the day – gym. I entered the locker room and started changing, eager to just get the lesson over and done with, ignoring the fact that I had Cheerios practice after. Pulling my shirt off I hung it up and grabbed my other one, when a lot of the other girls came streaming into the room, talking and laughing with each other. I noticed Brittany and Berry enter as I pulled my top over my head, sparing them a brief glance as they walked past me.<p>

I was ready for gym before everyone else, and fiddled with my phone, wanting to look like I was doing something. I had no texts, which shouldn't have come as a surprise to me, considering how I treated everyone, but I was still upset, no matter how unreasonable it was. On numerous occasions, I had found myself wishing I wasn't such a bitch and wanting to actually let people in, but I'd left it too late and couldn't stand the idea of begging for a friendship. That was something I would never do, no matter how desperate I was.

I scanned the rest of the girls as I put my phone away, not looking for anyone in particular, but when I didn't see a head of long blonde hair I couldn't suppress my disappointment.

Once everyone was finished changing we left the locker room and entered the gym, noticing the group of guys on the far side, lined up and watching us. The teacher appeared then, telling us "we're having a lesson on self-defence today; some people have come in to show you how to properly defend yourself in any situation. There are enough guys to work in pairs and threes, so choose which friends you want, then we'll assign your trainers."

The girls all started chattering excitedly then, and quickly chose their groups, delighting over the fact that they got to work with an older guy for the whole of gym class. I glanced around and noticed Brittany and Rachel talking, before Brittany slipped back through the locker room door, eyes on the teacher as she did so.

"Okay! Is everyone paired up?" Coach Beiste's voice cut through the gym.

Rachel raised her hand and said "I'm not, Coach."

She looked around and found me standing by myself, so shouted "Lopez, you'll be working with Miss Berry today. Get over there."

I was about to object, when I realised that I could get some information on why Brittany was acting so weird, and why she skipped the class. Nodding, I slowly walked over to Rachel, glaring at everyone that looked at me.

Coach looked surprised at my lack of disagreement, but continued with the lesson. We were grouped with a trainer each, and when ours walked over to us I noticed that he was outside the school this morning. I looked around at the others, and noticed that they were all the men stood around the school entrances when I entered. I nodded, figuring that they were doing some work for Coach Beiste before the lesson; at least that was one weird thing sorted out.

Rachel looked scared before we started, probably because she was paired with me. I asked her "why did Brittany leave?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, and asked "why would you want to know?"

"She doesn't seem like the kind of girl to skip. I need to know what everyone in this school is like – I am the top bitch, after all."

The man looked amused, but cut us off "okay, that's enough talking for now, we have enough work to do."

Rachel nodded, before telling me "she's been feeling sick all day, I guess she just felt worse." She strode over to the man and started following his instructions, not looking back at me.

* * *

><p>Gym had been interesting, and had certainly helped – something that it rarely does. I had learned a few new moves, as I already knew the majority – you pretty much have to if you live in Lima Heights. Plus, my brother and I would play fight when we were younger, and as I grew up he wanted me to be able to suitably protect myself if the time came for it, so taught me a lot of self-defence.<p>

I only worried that Berry would start sticking up for herself, now that she knew a _little_ on how to protect herself. I mean, I'd still be able to handle her, but if people saw _her_ rebel then what would they do? I snorted at the thought of her actually trying to fight me, thoroughly amused at the image in my head.

When gym ended, I had changed back into my uniform and forfeited the shower, leaving it until the end of the day, when Cheerio practice was over. I took my time getting to the field, not wanting to wait around for everyone else to get there, just wanting to get the practice started as soon as possible.

I arrived on the field and the girls all lined up when they saw me, waiting for their orders. I counted them and noticed that they were all there. Brittany was stood on the end, slightly hunched in on herself, but otherwise looking fine. I called her and she jogged over, looking curious.

"Yes, Captain Lopez?"

"Do you feel well enough to take part in today's practice without spewing everywhere?"

"Why wouldn't I?" She nodded, looking slightly confused.

"Why weren't you in gym just now?" I returned her question, wanting to find out what she was up to.

Realisation dawned on her face "oh, yeah. I…had just remembered that I left my keys in my car."

"Okay…get back in line, Pierce. We have a lot to do." I told her, not buying her excuse, but wanting to get on with the practice.

* * *

><p><em>The alley is dark, with just a faint glow from the streetlights edging around the corner, illuminating the man stood in front of me. He backs away and holds his hands up, whimpering when he hits the wall behind him.<em>

_"Please, don't do it. I didn't know. I won't do it again, I swear…I'll even work for you…just…"_

_I laugh and take a step toward him "oh, there's no doubt in my mind that you won't do it again. But just so you know – we don't give second chances." _

_I lunge forward and embed the knife in his chest, up to hilt, twisting it and enjoying the sounds that leave his throat. My arm is locked behind his back, jerking him onto the blade even more, while the hand holding it is covered in blood and starting to slide. Pulling back, I yank the knife out of his chest and let him crumple to the ground, delighting in the sound the impact makes, and almost miss the splash of a puddle coming from my right._

_Turning towards the sound, my knife is hanging in the air, and I see a girl standing at the mouth of the alley, her pale hand raised to her face in shock. We stand there, staring at each other in silence for a few seconds, and I observe the way the moonlight reflects off of her wide blue eyes before I jerk into motion, slashing my knife through the air. The light glints off my ring, and I see her eyes flicker down to it, before she spins around and sprints around the corner. I follow, pausing briefly at the entrance to look back at the body and check I haven't left anything behind, then continue, trailing the blonde hair that whips around every corner. _

"NO!" I shouted as I jerked awake, feeling my heart hammering against my chest. My mind raced as I tried to work through everything that had happened, determined to prove my self wrong. There's no way it was – no, of course not – it was just my imagination; it could have been anyone. I didn't get a good enough view anyway; the lighting was terrible, and the blood – I simply wouldn't think of it.

There was no doubt in my mind that I had just viewed a memory; the scene was slightly distorted and obscured by a slight fog that was often found in new memories belonging to the living. I had learned to differentiate dreams from memories, since the last time I had mistaken my dream for a memory, I had wrongly accused my father of something and earned myself a month-long grounding.

I took a deep breath and slowly released it, repeating it a few times until I felt my heartbeat start to slow and my mind clear. I took a few large gulps of cool water from the jug on my bedside table and just sat there for a few seconds, working on keeping my mind blank. Lying back down I pulled the covers over me and closed my eyes; I could think more on what I had just seen tomorrow, but for now I would sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> I hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what your thoughts are and what you think is going on here, I'd love to hear from you. I've been trying to hint at what is happening from the beginning, and I'm wondering if anyone has noticed anything, or has any theories? :)

Follow me on Tumblr at ImagineBrittana.


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Poppin'Freshx_ and _Alex Ryzlin Gold_ for the reviews, and _brittanaloverr_ for inspiring a possible idea. I still haven't decided if I can use it yet : )

All mistakes are my own, and I don't own Glee.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

I rolled over, burrowing my head in my pillows, determined to fall back to sleep. It was a Saturday, which automatically means I can lie in 'til noon and do nothing all day. I waited five minutes, but when it was obvious that sleep wasn't on the horizon I pulled my head up and glanced at my alarm, seeing that it was ten o'clock. Rubbing my eyes I sat up and walked over to my window, opening the curtains and seeing the sun out and people walking around with their dogs and children.

Getting dressed I performed my morning routine and made my breakfast before bringing it back upstairs with me, eager to work on finding out what my memory represented. I sat at my desk and pulled the drawer open, retrieving my journal from it, and spreading it on the desk. I moved everything around, making room for my breakfast, before I settled down to look through it.

I had started documenting the memories I received when I was ten – the year when I evidently started to change everything about myself – after witnessing a particularly confusing one. I didn't write down every memory, because many I got were pointless and blurry anyway, but the major ones, in which something important either happened, or it affected me greatly. I had filled a few journals already, and hid them in a locked drawer in my desk reserved just for that stuff, ensuring that no one would see it, as I possessed the only key.

I flipped through the pages and stopped on one that I remembered clearly. I was fourteen, and was in the Cheerio's locker room when it came to me, making me collapse and stare into space as the rest of the girls panicked and ran for help. I had finally woken up screaming, but luckily everyone thought it was out of pain, rather than fear. I didn't correct them.

_It was dark, and I was with a group of my cheerleading friends, getting ready to perform at the school carnival. We all assembled and started our routine, and everything was going to plan. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it and I was the flyer – stood on the top of the pyramid as everyone looked up at us, laughing and screaming. _

_There was a lot of screaming. At first I thought it was just because of the rides and fun everyone was having, but then I noticed a group of people running from a part of the field quite close to us. The crowd started stirring and I heard someone shout "gun!" That was when I noticed some loud banging noises and people just lying on the ground. _

_The girl beneath me flinched, and we all wobbled before falling over, on top of each other. I wasn't hurt too bad, I just had a sprained ankle, but one of the girls was just sprawled on the floor, and someone rolled her over and noticed that her neck was broken. She was dead. We screamed and looked around at each other, wondering what to do and forgetting about the gunmen for a moment._

_There was a gun shot really close to me, and a girl to my right screamed and fell to the floor, blood pooling around her. I turned around to where the shot came from and noticed five men walking towards us really slowly, with their guns in the air pointed at us. They weren't even wearing masks, like they weren't scared of what they were doing, or what would happen to them when they were caught. I turned and ran, but tripped over a girl's body that was led behind me._

_I coughed at a mouthful of dirt and pushed myself up, running as fast as I could away from the people. My shoulder exploded in pain and I fell to the floor. I tried to stay completely still and stop crying and breathing, thinking that if they thought I was dead they would just leave me alone._

_I heard them getting closer and then felt a boot stomp on my back, making me arch up and cry out loud._

"_Oooh, lookie here, we got ourselves a live one." He laughed, and kicked me over._

_I was crying and kept asking them to just let me go, but they weren't listening. There was one man who told them that they should just leave me alone and carry on, but the others wanted to stay and make me pay. Because I was a cheerleader. The girl didn't know what they were on about at first, but then recognised one of the men. I figured out that they went, or used to go, to the school and weren't very popular. They were always bullied, and wanted revenge. _

_The main man that seemed to be the leader crouched down and pushed my skirt up. I tried to fight back, but they shot my other arm, so I couldn't use either, and could barely move because of the pain._

I stopped reading, knowing what happened and not wanting to remind myself anymore. That memory was pretty much always in the back of my mind; it was the first one I had of being raped, but not the last. I view it as the worst one though, partly because of the age I was when I had it, and partly because of what had happened in it. I was able to somewhat protect and ready myself for any more I received after that; the first memory with a certain thing happening in it was usually the worst.

I flicked to the most recent entry; the one I wrote last night. Reading through it enabled me to remember more clearly what had happened, and what I thought when it had happened. I always write any things that stick out at me after I've seen a memory, just in case I needed to look back at it and remember something important.

I was sure that the girl the man had seen and chased was Brittany, which worried me greatly, but there was nothing I could do to see if she was alive at that moment; I didn't have her mobile number, or know where she lived, and I'm sure no one would tell me if I asked. I would just have to wait until Monday. Until then I could focus on things that I knew I could do and would help in the long run.

I had thought more about the ring after seeing it; it looked like a sovereign, and I worried that it was my brother's. It was dark when the memory took place, and the man didn't really focus on it, so I couldn't see much more than he did, especially because the memory itself was blurry, but I tried. The more I played it back, the surer I was that it was my brother's, and the more anxious I got. I didn't understand what was happening in the memory to begin with, and it being my brother would just introduce more questions I wasn't ready to find the answers to.

Realising that I wouldn't gain anything more from thinking on what I witnessed, I decided to do the next best thing: look around my house for any indications that it could have possibly been him.

I finished off my breakfast and entered Ricardo's bedroom, looking around, wondering where to start. I rifled through his drawers and tables, careful to put everything back where I had found it, but found nothing, other than some pieces of paper with phone numbers on. I searched through his clothes both on the floor and in his closet, but they were all empty. Looking around, I couldn't see anything that I hadn't searched, so I just led on the floor and looked up at the ceiling, resting for a moment. Tipping my head back I was looking at the underneath of his bed, and noticed something weird on the bottom.

Getting up on my hands and knees, I felt where I thought I saw the lump and came across something taped to the bottom, with black masking tape. I carefully peeled all the strips away from one side and pulled the object off of it.

It was a knife. I frowned and looked at it; it had an ivory handle, with engravings down the side, and a long silver blade. Looking closer at the engravings I noticed some rust in the grooves, but other than that it all looked new. I narrowed my eyes, wondering why he would have a knife taped under his bed, but figured that it was for defence. At least if it was a gun, or placed somewhere differently, I could be certain that it was him in the memory, but it was hidden in such a weird place if he uses it as a murder weapon. I shuddered thinking that – my brother wasn't a murderer; he'd never be able to hurt someone like that. _Not the Rico I know_.

I looked at it for a few more minutes, but then carefully taped it back to the bed, making sure it stuck properly, then looked around the room before leaving, pulling the door shut behind me.

I moved down the hallway, but then remembered something that my brother and I would do when we were children. He'd sneak up food and treats from the kitchen, and hide them under a loose floorboard under his dresser. The food would accumulate there, and after school, or when we were both home, he would fetch me from my room and share it out with me. No one ever found out about it, but when he was fourteen, and I eleven, he stopped doing it, and we didn't really interact with each other as much after that.

Pushing the door open again, I quickly moved the dresser out of the way and pulled the floorboard up, placing it on the ground next to me. There was a plastic bag placed in the bottom, with some towels placed over the top, probably trying to conceal it, if by any chance someone managed to find it. I pulled the bag out and untied the knot made with the handles, testing it in my hands, surprised at the weight of whatever was in the bag. Opening it slowly, I just stared at the plastic carrier, dreading what I might find in there, so I took a deep breath and looked in.

I dropped it in shock, unable to process the fact that _Rico_ owns a gun. Picking the bag up again I just watched the gun, as if I thought it would go off in my face. It felt even heavier than what it did a minute ago, and I was surprised at how much a gun weighs – more than what you'd think from all of the shows they're on. I was careful not to touch it, and wrapped it back up the bag, placing everything as it was before and backing up out of his room.

I knew that a knife and gun was enough evidence to point to it being my brother that killed that person and chased after Brittany, but I just didn't want it to be true. Surely my father would know if Ricardo was involved in anything like this; I made my way to his office, determined to find something to clear him from what I was mentally accusing him of.

Pushing the door open I decided to move as fast as I could, as I didn't know when everyone else would be home. I went straight to his desk and rifled through it, finding a few brown envelopes with _a lot_ of money in, but nothing else. Searching the rest of his office I knocked against a loose wooden panel when I shut a cupboard door and it opened, revealing a high-tech looking safe.

I fiddled around with it and wondered what could have been in it, so I tried a few combinations that I knew he used for other things. They didn't work, and I racked my brain, trying to think of anything else it could be, but I'd used all of the significant dates I could think of.

Sighing, I gave it up for the moment and looked in the last drawer, situated up high, above the cupboards. I found a white envelope, partially sealed, with no writing on, or anything to indicate what it was. Carefully, I opened it the rest of the way and peered inside, surprised at what was in there.

It was weed. There didn't seem to be a lot, but there was still weed. In my father's office. Why would my father have cannabis? I started panicking and worrying that he was using drugs, but then remembered that cannabis can be used for medical reasons. I supposed that he'd be able to have some on his person, because he worked at a hospital; he brings his other equipment and medicine home, so why not this? What if there was an emergency and he needed it, but didn't have any? That must be it.

Nothing I had found had helped Rico at all, and I wasn't sure what it meant for my father. He had a lot of money, and a small amount of drugs, stashed in his office, but I knew we were rich, and I didn't know what money would have to do with what Rico possibly did.

I exited his office and entered my room, collapsing on my bed as soon as I got within distance of it. I needed to think through what it all meant, and decide what I wanted to do.

* * *

><p><em>I slam the front door behind me and rest my back against it, relieved to be back home and safe from him. Whoever <em>he_ is. _

_I throw my keys on the table and remove my coat, hanging it up as I walk past the peg. Entering the bathroom, I look in the mirror and observe my appearance. _

_I am pale. Paler than I usually am, and my eyes are still frozen in fright. My hair is wild; sticking up all over the place, and kicking the phrase 'windblown' out of the park. I don't think I've ever been so scared before – I honestly thought I would die. It's a miracle I'm alive._

_My parents thought that the move would be safer for me, considering how much I was 'tormented' in my old school. Clearly they were wrong. I start removing my clothes, eager to warm up in the shower, and then to go bed. _

* * *

><p>A little while had passed since I had found everything around the house, and my head was clearer, enabling to me think uninhibited and without bias. I was convinced that it was Rico's memory I had witnessed, and I knew it had been recent because Brittany had only been in town for a few days. I'd guess that it had happened Thursday night, considering how she was acting Friday morning, and the conversation between my father and brother late that night.<p>

I was just glad that she was safe; if I hadn't seen that memory of her returning home after it had happened, I don't know what I would have done. She was shaken up, but seemed to be fine physically, which I was happy about.

I knew that I had to try to remove either Brittany or Rico's memory of that night, if not both, but I didn't know how I would manage it. I'd never really removed a memory before; I mean, I've occasionally taken really small ones that didn't really matter, but this was completely different. It had happened a couple of days ago already, and it was a really important memory that they'd thought about a lot and have stuck in their head. I didn't know if it would be possible to remove it, at least not without somehow damaging their memory as whole while I did it.

I knew that if there was a chance I could severely hurt the person I was taking the memory from I should choose Brittany and protect my brother from everything, but the thought of damaging Brittany hurt me even more than that of my brother. I knew that made a bad sister, but I couldn't figure out why I felt that way, or how to stop it. Plus, my brother had killed a man, and while that doesn't mean he deserves what he gets, I knew I wouldn't be able to forgive him or look at him the same way ever again.

If I removed Rico's memory, Brittany would still remember, and could go to the police at any time and get him arrested, whereas if I removed Brittany's memory Rico could find her and kill her, like he did with that man. I could always remove both of their memories, but the only problem with that was that I'd have to wait until Monday at school to remove Brittany's, which could possibly be too late. I suppose I could blackmail one of the Cheerios to give me her number or address; one of them had to have it.

Deciding to on that, I knew that I'd remove Rico's first, and so wanted to get some practice on other people. The mall would be the perfect place for that.

* * *

><p>I was sat on the edge of the fountain, in the middle of the mall, watching people walk past and trying to build up my courage to at least try what I knew I had to do.<p>

An old woman sat next to me and started rummaging through her bag, taking her phone out, and then telling someone that she'd meet them at the fountain. I looked at her and figured she would probably be a safe bet; she was old enough that she was probably losing her memories now anyway, so it would be easy to remove a little one.

I closed my eyes and bowed my head, trying to relax and block out all the sounds around me. Letting out a breath I reached out with my mind and carefully felt around the woman's consciousness, finding a place where I could safely enter. Finding it, I sifted through her memories, and found a short one where she was looking at the food menu as she walked past the court. I backed up a bit, and viewed it as an object – a photo frame with the scene playing out – and carefully cut around the edge of the frame, slowly breaking it away. Once I had cut the memory from her mind, I retreated and it naturally followed me out and into my own mind.

I looked at the woman next to me, and she looked as she did before. I smiled in relief, happy that it worked and I hadn't seemed to hurt her in the process.

Standing, I decided to move somewhere else and try on other people, not stopping until I was sure I was able to remove small memories safely.

* * *

><p>I blinked groggily and looked at the clock next to me, seeing that it was almost dinner time. After I got home, I had gone straight to bed, as removing memories from that many people had worn me out. I had fallen asleep practically as soon as my head hit the pillow, and was only waking up four hours later, so I had obviously worn myself out. My energy seemed to be replenished though, as after I had gone to the bathroom and splashed my face with water I felt wide awake and ready to sort out Ricardo's memory.<p>

I still wasn't happy about having to do it, and I didn't want to hurt him if something went wrong, but I was fairly confident in my abilities after having practiced on people for three hours earlier. Sure, they weren't big or important memories, but it couldn't be that different; the same basis was sure to apply.

I went down to get food and saw Anna in the kitchen, just dishing it all out. She smiled at me and I returned it, asking "is no one else home yet?"

"No, not yet. I've put some plates in the oven for everyone else when they get back."

I nodded and pulled the plate to me and started eating on the kitchen barstool. I watched as she started preparing desert and told her "stop doing that; sit down and relax for a bit, it won't hurt."

Shaking her head she replied "I can't do that, Santana. I need to finish cooking, then clean up."

I stood up and walked over to her at the counter, taking the ingredients and putting them on the side before gently guiding her over to one of the barstools and perching her on it.

Sitting back down I told her "you need to relax; you do too much. No one's home anyway. No one is waiting for the dessert."

"You're too good to me, Tana."

"And you're too good for us," I countered, used to this conversation, but still meaning it as much as I did when I said it the first time.

She just smiled and then asked me about my day, actually interested and caring, a contrast from what my father was when he asked. We chatted while I ate my food – she'd had her dinner before she got here – and halfway through she stood back up and started on the dessert again, but I just rolled my eyes while I continued eating, familiar with the routine.

I finished eating and started washing the dishes, while she completed the cooking, passing me the plates as she used them. I could have just put it all in the dishwasher, but I liked helping her and just staying in her company.

In no time the dessert had finished cooking and she sat down with me and ate some, me splitting mine with her. She had cooked enough for her as well, but she always gave me about double the portion I needed, because I was a _growing girl_, and so I always shared with her, when we were alone.

An hour passed and we'd finished eating and cleaning, so she got her bag and said goodbye and she'd see me tomorrow, hugging me as she did. I entered the living room and turned the TV on, settling into the sofa, ready to wait for my brother to return home.

* * *

><p>He walked through the door around eleven, and I stood up and told him "Anna put your food in the oven. Where have you been?"<p>

He eyed me, probably wondering why I was suddenly asking about him, but answered as he moved to the kitchen "work. You know, some people actually have to earn money to survive."

I scoffed "working on a Saturday? Please, the day Ricardo Ramiro Lopez works on a weekend is the day pigs learn how to fly."

He ignored me and sat down, shoving the food in his mouth and flicking through his phone. I sat down opposite him and grabbed an apple, trying to look like o was doing something other than watching him.

I closed my eyes, relaxed my mind and reached out, much like I had earlier, but slightly smoother now, as I knew where the best place to enter was. I flicked through his memories, knowing when the one I wanted took place, and so it was easy to find. As I did so I found out that he was with friends this afternoon, at an abandoned warehouse; the men looked like those at the school helping with self-defence the day before.

The memory was much more attached to his mind than the ones I had removed today, probably because he'd thought a lot on it, and maybe done things that were linked to it. I observed the way it was attached; the only way I could describe it was as wisps of mind matter, like shadows, holding on to the frame that surrounded the memory. They were moving and flickering over it, curling around the edges and caressing the sides.

There was no way I'd be able to remove the whole frame along with the memory, so I carefully cut along the edges of the film inside of the frame, making sure to take it all, but leaving the empty frame in place.

I backed out of his mind, careful not to touch anything else, but feeling relieved that I had managed to do it. Opening my eyes I smiled over at my brother, but then jumped up, rushing to his side. He was led, half collapsed on the table, looking into space.

"Rico! Wake up. Please." I shook him, but he didn't respond, his eyes just gazing into space. He was slipping off the table, so I leant him against my body and gently lowered him to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Rico, please." I sobbed, my tears dripping onto his face as I hovered over him. I continued shaking him and whispering sorry, but he didn't change at all. The guilt was growing and devouring me; I'd never be able to forgive myself if I'd done something to hurt him like that.

Finally, I slapped his face, willing to do anything for him to wake back up.

He blinked and groaned, eyes slowly focussing on my face. After a couple of seconds he croaked out "why are you crying?"

I wiped my eyes frantically, sniffling "I'm not. There's something in my eyes."

He chuckled and moved to sit up, so I put my hand of his back and guided him up. "How did I get here?"

"You collapsed on the table and I lowered you to the floor, because you were falling." I hated lying and felt really guilty, but I knew I wouldn't be able to tell him the truth. "Do you know what happened?"

"Uh…I don't know. I was thinking of something, then had a really bad headache. I can't really remember."

"Oh…what were you thinking of?"

He hesitated, frowning "I don't know. I can't remember." He grabbed his head in frustration.

I sighed, but helped him off the floor and back to his stool. I went upstairs and locked myself in my room, ready to stew in my guilt and pray that it was a momentary shoot of pain, rather than permanent damage. No matter what he had done, Ricardo was still my brother, and I didn't know what I'd do if something was wrong with him, especially because of me.

I'd just have to wait until Monday to see Brittany and find out what she knew; there's no way I would put her in danger, after what I had done to Rico. No way in Hell.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> So I'd like to think a lot happened. I hope this answered some of your questions, but if not ask me and I'll see if I can answer :) I'd love to hear from you guys; see what you thought and hear any more possible theories (I love the ones I've already heard), so please review!

I wanna say, I'm really excited to post Chapter 8 – I finished it a couple of days ago, and can't wait to see what you think. I got emotional though (which _never_ happens, cause I'm a robot :P), but I think that might just be because my emotions were acting crazy that day, for absolutely no reason. Or because stuff happens. I don't know, you'll have to wait and see ;)

I was writing Chapter 7 and getting confused by how much time had passed and what her timetable was, because I wanted _some_ continuity, unlike the show :P So I made a timeline thing, and Santana's school timetable, with her lessons & clubs, and highlighted according to who is in them with her. If anyone else is confused by when we are, or how much time has passed since certain thing, ask and you shall receive ;)

Follow me on Tumblr at imaginebrittana :)


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thanks to _Poppin'Freshx_ and _Alex Ryzlin Gold _for reviewing, and _elfypelfy_ and _Frogfeather_ for the messages and ideas : )

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

I was sat in my car in the school parking lot, watching the people enter, waiting to see Brittany's car. This was the first chance I would have to see her since I had decided not to tamper with her memory, and I had to find out if there was any chance she would tell anyone.

If she hadn't already.

I hadn't had much sleep over the weekend; I couldn't stop worrying about Rico. He had improved after his initial collapse, seeming like himself again, but I still found myself watching him. Not only because of the damage to his mind, however.

When I was removing the memory, I had seen more of it, and found out why he had killed that man. I had also seen a few more of his memories and was scared by what I saw. He seemed to be working for some murderers, both helping with the paperwork and cleaning up after them, and performing the actual murders. I hadn't seen much, and tried to get out before I had seen more, but it terrified me; knowing that my brother could be such a monster. I had found myself questioning everything I had seen him do, and any of our past exchanges, not able to trust him at all anymore.

When I had taken the part of the memory with Brittany into my mind, I had heard his thoughts and intentions of what he was going to do when he saw her. It made me unbelievably relieved that he hadn't found her, and that I had taken the memory from him, protecting her from what he had planned. I had had nightmares of what he was going to her do her the following night, unable to forget about the vivid images he had played in his mind.

I had arrived early, not wanting to miss her enter the school, and have to search for her, so I had been waiting for twenty minutes already. A minute later I saw her beat up truck pass me and park a couple of rows over, shuddering as it did so. I jumped out of my car and slowly walked up my row, meeting her as she walked past.

"Hey," I mumbled, nervous about actually trying to have a conversation with her. No matter how many times I had played it in my head, I'd never be ready to approach her with the aim of starting a conversation.

She gave me a tight smile and sped up walking, all but ignoring me. I frowned, and asked her "are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Well…uh…I wanted to thank you for giving me my shampoo back. I realised that I didn't before, and I really appreciated it."

"I told you before, it's fine," she told me, with no emotion in her voice.

"Look, have I done something to offend you or something? I thought we'd sorted everything out before, but you're not even looking at me now."

She stopped walking and looked at me, her mouth downturned. She shook her head slowly and said "no…sorry, I just have been a bit distracted lately. I have to go now. Bye."

She ran off and I just watched her, not entirely sure what had happened. She was definitely not happy with me; I was just hoping it was because she was still shaken up over what had happened Thursday, rather than having somehow found out that I was related to the man who had tried to kill her.

Obviously, talking to her wouldn't help me get anywhere near becoming her friend. I furrowed my brow, wondering what could possibly change her mind, if me being nice to her couldn't.

As soon as the thought came to me I shook my lead, laughing at the sheer hilariousness of it. I can't believe I would even contemplate doing that; of risking my reputation in such a way, merely for a chance to gain Brittany's trust.

No, I would give it a bit more time and try to talk to her again, before resorting to that. I wasn't that desperate. Yet.

I walked into the school in no rush, considering I still had twenty minutes until the bell rang, and had nothing to do. Cheerio practice was later this afternoon, so I would wait and see if I could talk Brittany around then, but until then I would just have to focus on lessons and successfully plan what I was going to say when I saw her, as our last conversation hadn't gone so well.

* * *

><p>I walked onto the field and watched as they all assembled into a line upon seeing me. I had decided not to turn up early and list the latecomers, as I didn't want to single Brittany out if she was late again – I would want to ignore it, to get on her good side, but then everyone would notice and call attention to the fact, which she probably wouldn't be too happy about.<p>

I smiled at them and told them, "instead of practicing our routines today, we will do some trust activities. It has come to my attention that certain members of the team do not feel comfortable or trusting enough around others, so we need to work on that if we are to win Nationals. I will choose the pairs or groups, and change the activity once we've all passed."

I heard sighs of relief from the girls, most likely happy that I wouldn't punish them with a torturously hard workout. It had taken me a while to think of a way to talk to Brittany and gain her trust, but when this idea came to me I knew I had to use it. Genius. There's no way she'd not be able to trust me once this practice was over.

I made sure to pair up the girls that I knew didn't get along particularly well, but also wouldn't start a fight for no reason, because I wanted to be able to focus on what I was doing, while knowing that this was somewhat benefitting us. I left Brittany 'til last and paired her with me, acting surprised and like I'd forgotten to put her with someone else.

The activities ranged from the simple falling and catching test, to cheerleading moves and catches, with groups.

She kept her distance from me, and hesitated while doing every move and activity, only acquiescing when she saw that everyone else had finished and were waiting on us.

I was wrong before. She still didn't trust me. I guess I'd have to go for Plan B in the end, after all.

* * *

><p>A day had passed, and I was back in school, stalking the halls for a glimpse of Rachel Berry. Brittany had joined Glee Club with her as soon as she entered the school, and I knew that if I had any chance of gaining her trust I would have to join her band of misfit losers.<p>

My Plan B: Join Glee Club.

I was completely dreading it, and had thought over many ways I could potentially join Glee, but there's no way I'd ask to. That left bring blackmailed or bribed to; neither or which would benefit my reputation in any way, but they would at least be less disastrous to it, rather than willingly joining.

I remember when Mr. Schuester took over Glee Club, and Finn Hudson joined out of nowhere. I happened to know why he ended up there in the first place. All I had to do was be caught doing something, or _with something_, by Mr. Schuester, who happens to know that I can carry a note, who will then proceed to make me join. Of course, he would have to say that it is a form of detention or something – let people know that he made join.

It would also be useful to me if Berry heard me singing, and backed my move to Glee, if merely for the fact that I would help them win.

With that rough outline in my head, I spent the lessons deciding just how they would catch me singing, and what Mr. Schuester would catch me doing.

Considering I knew that the weed worked last time, it should be just as good the second time around. Granted, he planted it there in the first place, but if he wanted to tell the other teachers about my 'drug habits' I could always tell him that I know he bought drugs and used them to blackmail a student to join his afterschool club. After he watched him in the showers.

The only thing that was putting me off of the plan was the drug aspect. Everyone may be under the impression that I'm a badass from the wrong side of the tracks, but I've never actually done drugs. I actually respect my body enough not to do something too damaging for a brief high. I've been to plenty of parties where people were doing them, but it's actually really easy to fake taking them when everyone else is already off their heads.

However, since I'd recently found the weed in my father's office, it should be easy enough to take some without him noticing.

As for Schuester and Berry knowing that I can sing, all I had to do was pass them while singing a little song. Simple.

With that decided, the school day had ended and I packed up quickly, knowing that the Glee Club have their meetings every afternoon, and that they start ten minutes after school ends. I walked through the corridors towards the choir room, aware that she gets there early and discusses what she thinks should happen, with Schuester.

When I was a few doors away I started singing Candyman, knowing I sound like liquid sex on this song. They wouldn't be able to resist.

Sure enough, as I drew closer to the room, I heard their voices trail off and Rachel whisper "who is _that_?"

As I walked past the room I looked in, through the corner of my eye, and saw them staring at me, dumbstruck. I waited until I passed them before letting the smirk take over my face, and after a couple of seconds I heard them walk to the doorway, watching me go. I added a little extra sway to my hips and made my voice extra husky, knowing I just sealed the deal.

* * *

><p>It was the end of the next day and I was sat in Spanish, fiddling with the little plastic bag in my jacket pocket.<p>

It had been easy to get, really. My father wasn't home when I got back, so I slipped in and out, quickly getting a small amount out of the envelope, and leaving everything as it had been before. I hadn't heard anything from him yet, so I was hoping he wouldn't notice.

Mr. Schuester had been staring me through the lesson, asking me a lot of questions and smiling whenever I talked. I looked up at the clock and noticed him looking at me again, but when he caught me eye he quickly looked away and shuffled the papers on his desk.

The bell rang and I slowly packed my stuff up, waiting for everyone to leave before I brushed past his desk and let the little plastic bag fall from my pocket. I got a few steps further, when his voice cut through the air.

"Santana. What's this?"

I turned and saw him pinching the bag between two fingers, eyes narrowed. I shrugged and moved my attention around the room, appearing bored. "I don't know. Looks like weed to me."

"Why do you have it?"

"I don't – you do," I smirked.

"Enough. Why are you doing this? You're a smart girl – you don't want to ruin your life with drugs. You could have got into any college you wanted."

I shifted, "what do you mean – could have?"

"When they find out about this, they'll be sure to decline you. No one wants a girl who is more interested in drugs than education in their college."

I widened my eyes and grabbed a chair, swinging it to the side of his desk. Sitting down, I asked "but you'll do something, right? You don't have to tell anyone about this. It's not even mine – a friend asked me to look after it for them this morning."

"I can't very well ignore this, Santana. I'm your teacher; what kind of impression would I be setting if I just ignored this?"

"But isn't there anything I can do? I need to go to college."

He smiled at me "well, I guess I could overlook it this one time…if you do something for me."

"What?" I asked, suspiciously.

"Join Glee Club."

I sat back in my seat and shook my head. "Why would I want to do that?"

"That's your only choice, Santana. Join Glee Club, or don't go to college. Your choice."

"If I take your offer…what will you tell everyone?"

"What would you want me to tell everyone?"

"I don't know…that it's a punishment – detention or something. That I have no choice. Which I don't."

He looked at me for a moment, before nodding his head slowly and holding his hand out, shaking mine.

I stood and left the room, stopping as he told me "practice is everyday, ten minutes after the bell rings. You'll be expected today, and just to make sure you turn up, you'll walk with me."

"But I have Cheerios practice after school as well some days. I'll have to miss Glee on those days."

"Make the practices later then. You will attend every Glee practice, unless otherwise stated."

I simply nodded and sat on a table, waiting for him to hurry up and leave, and planning on how I should act in Glee.

* * *

><p>We walked up to the doorway to the choir room and I paused for a second, watching everyone inside interact with each other. We were late, because he walked slowly and told me all of the rules I had to follow while I was there, and I just rolled my eyes, not listening to what he said at all.<p>

He was stood in the centre of the room and beckoned me inside, saying "everyone, this is our newest member: Santana Lopez!"

I scowled and looked for an empty seat near someone bearable, but they were all taken. Spotting a pile of chairs off to the side, I dragged one over to Brittany, who was sat on the edge of the first row next to Rachel. Sitting down, I noticed her shift a little away from me and Berry looked around her and narrowed her eyes at me, before facing forward.

As soon as I had entered the room, the noise rose unbelievably, everyone protesting and shooting daggers at me and Mr. Schuester.

I just glared at anyone who dared look at me, and while they turned away, they continued whining and moaning to Schuester.

Quinn spoke loudly over the noise then, causing everyone to fall silent. "I think it's a good thing. Everyone in this group talks about acceptance, but what are you doing now? We should be happy to have another voice in this club. Plus, it's not like she'd harm the club's reputation in any way," she grinned. I looked at her and she shot a small smile and wink my way, before raising her eyebrow and assessing the rest of the group.

Rachel, who had surprisingly kept quiet for the whole time, spoke up then. "I agree with Quinn. I understand why no one is happy with this – Santana has personally victimised all us the whole time we have been at this school. She does, however has a perfect voice for backing me up and making this group stronger. I believe that with her input, we can easily win Nationals and bring back a trophy for our first year. Which, of course, I would have managed anyway, but her voice will just emphasise mine."

Finn rubbed her back and spoke up then, "how do you know she has a good voice? We've never heard her sing. Why would she want to join anyway?"

"Want to join? Oh please, don't let your ego inflate too much. This is the last thing on Earth I'd willingly do. Like I'd want to be stuck in this room with you rejects for an hour _every_ day." I snapped my mouth shut, remembering I was trying to get Brittany to trust me, rather than hate me.

"Santana!" Schuester cut in, "Watch it." I just raised my hands in the air, signalling I was going to back off, and he continued "anyway guys, she's here as part of a musical rehabilitation we have just started. We all know how much music has changed our lives for the better, and how much glee it can bring, so we want to use it to help people with problems."

I scoffed, offended that he had just told everyone I had problems, but kept quiet.

"But why is she here now? What did she do?" Kurt asked, completely ignoring me.

"That's between me and Santana, but she was on the top of the list to try this programme, so when what happened happened, we started it."

It was silent for a few seconds, until someone said "she should audition at least."

"I'm not auditioning," I laughed.

Mr. Schuester looked at us for a moment before nodding "I think that it's fair for Santana to audition." Seeing my open my mouth, about to refuse, he added "maybe audition isn't the best word. We need to hear your voice, so we can figure out who you'd be best paired with, and what you can sing."

I shrugged, knowing I was beat, and he raised an eyebrow at me. "Now?" I asked incredulously. At his nod I searched my mind for a song to sing, that could also possibly get me on Brittany's good side.

Thinking of one that may work, I stood up and told Brad the song I wanted to sing – The Last Song, by Poison – and at his nod I walked to the middle of the room and took in a deep breath, readying myself as the music started.

_When I lost my way you were my light  
><em>_When the others wronged me you did me right  
><em>_When I look in your eyes don't tell me lies  
><em>_You tell me the truth your words they get me through_

I was looking down at the floor, but glanced up at Brittany and saw her smiling softly and swaying to it.

_This is my last song  
><em>_It's all I've got  
><em>_If bare my soul  
><em>_Don't you break my heart  
><em>_Won't you sing along  
><em>_This is my last song  
><em>_It's all I've got  
><em>_So don't you break my heart_

I looked around and saw everyone watching me, surprised, either at the fact that I can sing or channel actual emotions. Probably the latter.

_Cause all I've got's my word  
><em>_I give it to you  
><em>_Now it may not be much  
><em>_It's the best that I can do_

I stared at Brittany as I sang that, trying to convey that I meant it, and that I'd love to gain her trust. That I'd do everything I could to make up for the way I had first treated her.

_If this were my last breath of my last day  
><em>_And my last chance  
><em>_This is what I'd say:_

_I thank you for the laughter  
><em>_Sorry for the tears  
><em>_Time to say good-bye  
><em>_I say good-bye  
><em>_After all these years_

I was staring at the floor and it was silent for a few seconds, until everyone burst into applause and whistles. I looked up in surprise, and then quickly made my way back to my seat, narrowing my eyes and steeling my expression again.

Obviously I hadn't chosen that song because I meant every word. Its not like I loved her or anything, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to continue trying to gain her trust, and so pretty much decided that if I didn't manage it today, then I would give up and say goodbye.

As I sat down Brittany looked to her side and caught my eyes, nodding and whispering "that was really nice."

I grinned and whispered back "thank you," settling further into my chair, preparing myself for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> So, not much happened in this chapter, but the next few chapters are pretty interesting, or have things happening at least. This had to happen anyway – Brittany needed a reason to talk and trust Santana, and this was the best way I could think of. I will include some lyrics throughout the story, that they sing in Glee, but not the whole song, and only because they're important.

I hope you liked it – please review and let me know what you thought, and if there's anything you'd like to see! : )

I'm on Tumblr at ImagineBrittana if you want to follow me.


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thanks to _Poppin'Freshx_ for reviewing! And to _Thundering Ice _and _Critch94 _for the messages :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 7<span>

About a week had passed since I had joined Glee Club, and my friendship with Brittany had flourished. I still felt unsure around her, and uncontrollable at times, but she seemed to trust me and feel somewhat comfortable around me, which I was pleased about.

While I had originally started the friendship with the aim of getting on Brittany's good side and ensuring that she wouldn't tell anyone about what had happened Thursday night, it had turned into something more. I found that I was actually enjoying the time I spent with her, and didn't want to leave when it came to it.

I hadn't really had a friend before, and I found myself craving more of Brittany the more time we spent together, something which she seemed happy to agree with as well.

She was reluctant to talk to me at first, let alone hang out, but after sitting next to each other in Glee after a couple of days, and helping each other out in that and cheerleading, she had begun to relax around me. It was only the weekend when she finally loosened up a bit, and started to joke with me, and trust me with some little things here and there.

She hadn't told me much about what had happened Thursday, or what she had seen, but she left hints about how she was feeling about it. She told me that she had seen something she shouldn't have, and that she was terrified about going out again, and how stupid she was for doing that in the first place. I had gotten angry when she said that, and told her that she would never be stupid, and that she should feel safe going out whenever she wants.

I guess that the fact she hadn't told me what happened was good really, because it let me know that she wouldn't tell anyone. Not that she trusted me more than anyone else, but every time I asked she vehemently refused to answer, no matter how many times, or how many reassurances that I wouldn't tell anyone.

I had slept over her house Friday night, and it had been what I imagine a typical normal sleepover is – movies throughout the night, with junk food and gossip about the people in Glee really. I'd been to some cheerleading ones before, but those felt so false, and this one was with someone I actually liked and so felt like what I thought a proper sleepover should.

Of course, I still had to be careful what I said around her, because I knew that our friendship was still precarious, and that if I said one wrong thing she would be likely to call it all off and return to Berry. Who, by the way, wasn't very happy with the development, and constantly said how I was trying to steal everything from her.

* * *

><p>Afternoon Cheerios' practice had passed, and I was leaving the school, after having my shower. I was one of the last to leave, with only some teachers' cars left in the parking lot, because I'd had to make the practice later because of Glee.<p>

It was starting to get dark, so I drove home faster than usual, eager to get home in the warm. I slowed down, noticing someone sat on the side of the road with a bike.

Pulling up, I noticed it was Brittany, and the front wheel of her bike was twisted in the gutter. The car lights shone off of the blood covering her leg, and she pushed herself up as I stopped the car.

"What happened; are you alright?" I asked as I jumped out of the car.

"There was a car, and I swerved out of the way, but that happened," she nodded to her bike and rested her hand against the bonnet of my car, leaning her weight on it.

"What about your leg?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a scratch," she laughed and shrugged, but I led her to my seat in the car.

"Let me check it out; I know a little first aid."

She said nothing, and did as I said, letting me feel around the cuts and assess the damage. I was knelt on the floor in front of her, her legs hanging out of the car and resting on the ground. She winced as my fingers traced over a particularly bad one, but pursed her lips to hold in any noise.

I looked up at her and murmured a "sorry." She smiled a grimace, but shrugged her shoulders, letting me know that it was alright. I rested my hand on her knees and told her "you need to go to the hospital to get stitches."

Her eyes widened and she rapidly shook her head back and forth. "No. No, I don't need to go there. I can just put a bandage or something on it when I get home."

"It'll get infected or something if you do that. I've seen a few things like this, when I've visited my father in work, and injuries like this have always needed stitches."

"No, it's fine. I can't even feel it. I really need to get home now, so…"

I bit my lip and looked between her and the bike, wondering why she was refusing to go to the hospital. "Why were you riding your bike? What happened to your truck?"

"Oh, it broke the other day, so my mum gave me her bike to ride for now, 'cause we can't fix it at the moment…I guess I'll have to walk everywhere from now on," she laughed.

I suddenly remembered that her family didn't have that much money, from what I'd seen when I had been around her house. "Do you…uh…do you have health insurance?"

She looked surprised, probably that I had asked, then stared at the ground, avoiding my gaze. Finally she shook her head 'no' and looked up at me cautiously.

"Okay…well," I looked at my watch. It was almost 7pm, which meant my father would probably be finishing work soon. "We can go meet my father at work, and he'll sort you out. Don't worry about the money. Just…do you have any trousers or anything?"

She shook her head, eyes questioning me. I stood up and brushed myself off, before offering her my hand and pulling her up with me.

"I think I should have some in the trunk, hang on." I walked around to the back of the car and opened it, finding a bag of clothes that I like to keep in there just in case. I pulled out the pair I thought had the best fit, which I had to roll up whenever I used – some dark blue jeans – and handed them to her.

"Put those on, then we can get going."

"I'm not putting those on; they're really nice and I'll just get them covered in blood."

"Don't worry about it. I have plenty of pairs, I'm not going to miss them." I gestured for her to take them again, and she did so, reluctantly. "Put those on, so they can't see your leg when go in, alright?" I smiled.

"Here?" She looked around, but the road was empty and there was no traffic coming.

I nodded and said "it's your best bet. Use my car if you want, just be careful not to hurt your leg any more."

She nodded and clambered into the backseat, closing the door behind her. I turned my back and looked around me, unsure of where to look. Sure, we share a locker room while changing and showering for practice, but this felt different. My eyes landed on her bike, and I assessed the damage, wondering what to do with it.

I heard the door open, and I turned around and helped her out of the car, telling her "I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit your bike in my car. What do you think?"

She looked at it herself and shook her head. "No, it won't. It's really dirty anyway, and I don't want to ruin your car. Just leave it here; nobody will want to steal it anyway."

"I don't care about that," I told her. "Okay…we'll go to the hospital, and I'll take you home. Then, I'll borrow my brother's truck and collect your bike, if he's home. Is that alright?"

"You don't need to go to all that trouble."

"Get in the car," I laughed, and moved the bike into some bushes that were set back from the road. Once that was done I got in the car and buckled my seatbelt, smiling at her as I pulled away from the curb.

The ride there was quick and quiet, with us saying the occasional thing, but mainly staying in silence. I pulled into a parking space by the door and stepped out, slamming my car door, and walking around to Brittany's side, helping her out and letting her test her leg on the ground.

"How is it; do you think you can walk alright?"

She nodded and started walking, but I noticed her leg buckle and quickly grabbed her arm, keeping her upright.

"Sorry," she breathed, blushing.

"It's alright," I shook my head. "Here," I held my arm out for her to loop hers around, and she did so slowly.

Once she had grabbed hold I frowned and laughed "you can hold on tighter than that; that's not going to help you at all. Lean your weight on me."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me, but you'll hurt yourself if you don't do it." I raised an eyebrow at her, and felt her grip tighten, and I smiled in success.

I started walking slowly to the doors and told her "let me do the talking if anyone comes up to us. I know where we have to go anyway though, so we shouldn't really need to talk at all."

She smiled at me and grabbed my arm tighter as we entered the hospital. We got to my father's office quickly, without any trouble, but when I knocked on the door there was no reply.

I tried the handle, and it turned under my touch. Leading Brittany into the office, I closed the door behind us and put her in a chair and placed another one in front of her for her to place her foot on.

I sat on the desk while she did that, and we sat in silence, with her looking around the office for a little. I looked at the photos on his desk and noticed a family picture, which I quickly placed face down on the surface, glancing at Brittany to check she hadn't noticed.

"You didn't have to do this for me. Shouldn't, actually. We can probably get in trouble for this, and it'll all be my fault."

"Relax. We won't get into any trouble. My father's cool; he won't tell anyone. Anyway-"

He walked through the door then, talking on the phone, but when he saw us he quickly hung up.

"Santana! What are you doing here?"

I stood up and nodded for him to shut the door, and when he did I asked him "I was wondering if you could fix Brittany's leg for her, please? She doesn't like the normal hospital rooms and stuff, so I said you'd be able to do that here, right?"

"Yeah, sure. Just let me get her some forms to fill out first."

"You don't need to do that; it's only a few stitches. There's no point for that. I said we wouldn't bother with all that time consuming stuff. Just in and out."

He looked between us and Brittany struggled to get up and said "don't worry about it; I told Santana that I could bandage it when I got home. Thanks for your time."

Brittany was gently pushed back into her chair by my father's hand, and he said "no, don't worry. I'm Enzo Lopez, and will be your doctor for the day. Let's have a look at that leg then, okay?"

She sat back in the chair and rolled the jean leg up as far as she could, while my father snapped his gloves on and got all of the equipment he would need.

He was talking to her as he worked, with his voice quiet and soothing, and I could see that she was feeling more comfortable already.

"Are you new to town? I haven't seen you around before, and Santana hasn't mentioned you."

She opened her mouth to reply, but I quickly cut over her "no, she's lived here for ages. She's just recently joined the Cheerios, in the last few months, and I've been round her house a lot, because she lives closer to the school than we do."

He hummed and Brittany looked at me curiously, but didn't say anything, knowing that I'd said it for a reason.

He asked her a few more questions as he finished up, and washed her leg clean of blood. Taking his gloves off and throwing everything in the bin he sat back down in front of Brittany and folded his hands in his lap.

He instructed her on how to look after her leg, and what she should and shouldn't do.

She had been forbidden from doing any exercise for a few weeks, so would to have to skip the Cheerio practices, to which she joked with him and said that she was secretly glad, because of how much of a slave driver I am. He laughed and ran his hand through his hair, and I saw her eyes follow the movement, and her brow crinkle in thought.

She stiffened, and her face seemed to drain of colour and emotion slightly, becoming a pale blank mask. I sat up straighter and cocked my head to the side, wondering why she had suddenly reacted like that.

Jumping up, she stuttered out "I'm…late to get home. I need-I need to leave now. Thank you for helping me, Doctor Lopez. Bye," and ran out of the room as fast as her leg would let her.

He turned to me and raised a questioning eyebrow, so I said "I think she realised how long she spent in a hospital. I better go; I'm her ride home." He nodded, and I picked up both of our belongings and moved past him, following the path I saw her take.

I got out to the car and saw her leaning her forehead against the top, breathing in and out deeply. I let her know I was approaching "hey, what's the matter?"

She jumped slightly, but stayed in her place. It was silent for a minute, and I was about to ask her something else when she said "it was just really stuffy in there; I couldn't breathe."

"You're alright now, though?" seeing her nod I told her "I have your stuff that you left in his office."

She looked up and reached out for the bag, taking it with a minute smile. I unlocked the car and she opened her door, dropping her bag on the floor and sitting down in the seat. I followed her example, and got into the car, pulling out of the hospital, and started driving towards her house.

The music was on quietly in the background, and after a couple of minutes of listening to it she said "I didn't know doctors were allowed tattoos?"

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and told her "they are, but people can get funny about them. If they're small and easy to hide then they don't mind too much. Why?"

"Oh, I just noticed your dad's tattoo on his right ring finger."

"Oh yeah, he got it when he was a teenager. He usually wears gloves when he's at work to hide it. Why, don't you like it?"

"I couldn't really see what the design was. What is it?"

"It's a rose, with an 'L' in the centre."

"That's different. Why did he get that?" Her voice was so full of curiosity, like a little kid, that I couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"I don't know entirely. I've never really asked him," I avoided, not wanting her to figure out that it was a family thing, and that the man who tried to kill her was wearing the same thing.

She hummed and looked out of the window, keeping quiet for the rest of the ride.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Sorry it's so short. The next three chapters are much longer, if it makes up for it? :D

I'd love to hear what you think of it, and if there's anything you'd like to see. Please review! :)

I'm on tumblr at ImagineBrittana :)


	8. Chapter 8

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Alex Ryzlin Gold_, _Frogfeather_ and _Poppin'Freshx_ for reviewing! And to _Critch94_, _BabyD-MontanaGirl_ and _vieledgreyskies_ for the messages. :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 8<span>

I had just got back from Brittany's house after I was meant to return her bike. The problem with that was that her bike had disappeared from where we had left it, and so I had to go and tell her that her mum no longer had a bicycle at all.

I didn't know why someone would want to steal her bike, considering how the crash had completely ruined it, but assumed that it would be worth something for scrap metal.

I felt really guilty that I had left it there to be stolen in the first place, no matter how many times she told me I was being silly, because I had helped her with her leg, which was something that keeping her ruined bike wouldn't have done. I decided that I would buy her a new bike the next time I went into town; the best one in the shop. For now, though, I had offered to take her to and from school, because she would have a long walk and shouldn't use her leg any more than possible.

She had jumped and engulfed me in a hug, squealing her thanks, and held on for longer than I was sure was deemed appropriate.

I had never believed in love at first sight before, or even love happening within a couple or weeks like so many people say about nowadays, but I was starting to reconsider. Of course, it wasn't _love_, but I was sure it was something more than friendship. The way she felt pressed up against me, holding me tight against herself, was doing things to me that I had never experienced before.

Sure, I'd had sex with guys, but it had never made me feel like that, especially from a hug with hardly any skin contact.

I was freaking out though, because not feeling like that before was bad enough, but her being a girl just complicated things even more. I'd never really thought about being gay before, as no one had particularly interested me, but I know that my family certainly had strong opinions on it. Throughout my childhood they were always drilling in to me and Rico that being homosexual was a sin. I didn't listen to them, because everything else they said and did seemed to be wrong, so why would I listen to that? But I knew that if they found out I was having feelings for a girl, they'd definitely have something to say about it.

I found myself nuzzling into her neck and the warmth she provided, grinning at the little giggle she let out, and content to just stand there like that forever.

She slowly let go, but ran her hand down my arms to my hands, holding them loosely in her own, and flashed me a suddenly shy smile.

She thanked me once again before I left, squeezing my hands and reassuring me that it wasn't my fault at all that her bike was gone. I found myself starting to believe her.

* * *

><p>Because I had used Rico's truck I had to drive around to the side of the house and park it in the garage, locking it up and using the side door to get into the house. Pulling my jacket off I walked over to the front door and hung it up, listening to the voices in the living room.<p>

It was my brother and another male, and they sounded agitated, so I moved closer, careful to keep out of sight and not make any sound. Getting to the doorframe I leant my back against the wall and cautiously looked around the corner, ready to move back at any moment.

He was sat on the coffee table, facing away from me, and his friend was to the left, with his face partly facing away from me.

"How could you just forget?"

"How am I supposed to know, Joe? All I know is that I've felt like I've been forgetting something since the weekend, but didn't know what, and then you come in asking what I've done about the girl. I don't know what girl you're on about!"

I held my breath and darted my eyes between the two of them, hoping that that was all his friend knew about Brittany.

Joe took a deep breath and spoke slightly quieter. "She's tall and blonde. Young. You said that she had bright eyes, and aren't entirely sure of the colour, but think it might be blue. She's fast, obviously, if she managed to outrun you, and you've never seen her before, which means she's probably new to town."

"And this happened after I killed Michaelson?"

"Yeah, she saw that happen, then ran."

"I don't fucking know!" he exploded and grabbed his hair in frustration. "There's no way I can just forget about something that happened to me – it's impossible!" He stopped talking for a few seconds, and then stiffened, tilted his head back and breathed in and out deeply.

He slowly turned his body toward me, and I sprang back, my hair whipping me in my eyes as I pressed myself back against the wall. My lungs started burning, and I realised I was still holding my breath, so I slowly and quietly let it out as I listened for any noise.

After a few seconds I heard rustling, then my brother pacing back and forth against the wood flooring. He was muttering to himself, but I couldn't hear what he was saying, until my name was mentioned.

I froze again, and wondered if he was remembering any little clues about my power. I certainly wasn't the best at keeping secrets when I was a child.

Apparently his friend was unsure what he was talking about as well, as he finally asked "what the hell are you on about?"

"Oh, nothing. I don't think. I don't know…something happened when I was a kid, but you know what they're like; it was probably just my imagination. Anyway, we don't need to worry about that for now; what we need to worry about is finding this girl and making sure she doesn't speak."

"Yeah, man, okay. But how are we supposed to do that? You're the only one who has seen her, and you can't remember what she looks like."

"Apparently I've given you a good description, so we'll get someone in to draw her and go from there. Has Noah or any of the boys figured out who it could be yet?"

"There's a few girls they've singled out. One new to town, the others fast and athletic. None of them seem to be particularly social, which could explain why you haven't seen them. He was going to take you to see them, but there's not really any point now."

"I might as well see them, see if it jogs any memories. At least if I recognise one, they can be crossed off the list. Talk to the guys and sort it out, I need to go do something now."

I quickly tiptoed to the staircase and ran up, careful to keep out of view of the doorway, and to not step on any loose floorboards. Once I was in my room I shut the door behind me and sank to floor, processing everything that I had heard; my thoughts running a mile a minute.

'Rico knew that he was missing a memory before his friend had even told him, which means I did something wrong, but now he knows what he's missing and is determined to find it. He may be remembering things that I had said when I was younger about being able to see other people's memories, and so know that I did something to him. Puck seems to be involved with this, which could possibly be why my parents want me to be with him so much. Rico is going to see Brittany, to see if he can remember anything else.'

I was pretty sure that his memory was completely gone, and he wouldn't remember her even if he sees her, but the same couldn't be said for Brittany. She would be sure to freak out if she sees him, which would alert him that it was her he was looking for.

I had to protect her.

The only way I could think to do so was to tell her everything I knew, and make sure that she wouldn't give anything away when she inevitably saw him, but I knew that could backfire on me. She'd probably think that I had planned to become friends with her, just to help my brother, and while part of that may have been true to begin with, it certainly wasn't now.

Slamming my head back against the door I stood up and grabbed my bag, packing some clothes in it and grabbing the stuff I'd need for me to stay overnight.

I was going to sleep over at Brittany's house, ensuring that she was protected in case my brother happened to stop by.

* * *

><p>Knocking on her door, I shifted the bag on my shoulder and looked around, making sure my brother and his friends weren't hanging around. A minute later I heard someone running down the stairs, and Brittany opened the door with a towel wrapped around her, wet from the shower that I could hear still going on.<p>

"Santana! What are you doing here?" She asked, looking at the bag on my shoulder worriedly.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realise you were uh…busy," I stammered awkwardly, looking at the space beside her head. "I just thought that we could have a sleepover. I know it's late notice, but I brought DVDs."

She looked slightly uncomfortable, "well I'm not sure. It's a school night, I don't think my parents would be happy about that."

I looked down at the floor. "You're right. It's just…" I looked up at her, then away quickly, shrugging my shoulders slightly "I kind of had a fight with my family and didn't want to go back. But that's alright, it's probably best to get it over with." I didn't like lying to her, but I knew that it was for the better; to keep her safe. Anyway, it wasn't a complete lie; I did want to get away from my brother, and probably would have had a fight with him, if I wasn't so scared.

I turned to walk away, sincerely hoping that it would work, when she grabbed my arm and took my bag from my shoulder.

"That's alright, I'm sure we can convince them." She smiled at me and joked "as long as they think we're studying, and that we'll go to bed early." She led me into her house and handed me my bag back. "Go on up to my room; I'll just phone my parents to ask."

I smiled gratefully and did as she said, glancing at the familiar pictures gracing the hallway as I walked. Every time I walked through that hallway I had to look at them; they always brought a smile to my face.

They ranged from Brittany's parents as teenagers, to her as a baby, to her sister's birth, and them as them as they are now. In all of the ones with Brittany in she was grinning at the camera, gap-toothed in some one them, but her eyes sparkled, and you could see the innocence in them. She looked so happy and free, something which she retained a little bit of, but the majority of it seemed to have disappeared.

I walked into her room and dropped my bag on the floor by the door, sitting down on her bed. I'd been in her room a few times before, but never had time to observe it properly, because she was always there with me.

Looking around I noticed that the colour scheme was yellow, green and blue pastel colours, making the room seem really light. The furniture was made of light pine, and was spread out around the bed, which was in the centre of the room, and there were a couple of beanbags in the corner.

She came into the room then, smiling and telling me "they said it's alright, as long as you don't distract me," she flashed me a smile. "They want to know if you've had dinner yet?"

"No, I haven't. I was thinking that we could have takeaway though; I'd pay, as part of my thanks for having me over." I was making sure to look into her eyes, well aware of the water still dripping down her body.

"We can't expect you to pay. We're fine with what they planned anyway. Unless you don't want it?" She questioned, suddenly unsure.

"Of course I don't mind having whatever they planned. I just really want to show you and your family how much I appreciate you letting me stay around, and thought that this would be a nice start. Plus, I feel responsible for your bike being stolen."

"They're never going to let you," she sighed.

I smirked "just let me talk to them."

* * *

><p>We were all sat in the living room around the TV, with our food on our laps. They had decided on kebabs, after a little coaxing, and once it arrived we sorted it out and took it to the living room, watching a talent show together and deciding who we thought would be good and bad.<p>

I was sat on the two-seater with Brittany, and her parents and sister were on the three.

"I still don't understand how you convinced them," Brittany whispered to me.

Smirking, I told her "no one can resist my undeniable charms." She laughed and I added, more seriously "I think they could see that I really wanted to though, and meant what I said. I'm really grateful for how you've treated me, after how mean I was to you that first day."

She looked at me sadly, and told me "everyone deserves a second chance. I knew that you didn't mean it anyway; you hide behind your words and mask, but I know that that's not you."

I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable with how serious the conversation was getting, and the eye contact that she was holding. I was unable to look away.

Her sister suddenly squealed "this is so cool! Thank you, Santana. We never have takeaway. This is the best day ever!"

"Emily!" Brittany exclaimed, embarrassed.

I chucked "that's alright, I never have takeaway either, so I'm just really glad your parents let us. If you see my parents, don't tell them about this, okay?" I winked and she nodded excitedly.

Brittany looked at me curiously and asked "you're not allowed takeaway?"

Shrugging I told her "it's usually only me at home for meal times, and there's no point in just me having it. Plus, both my parents and Coach Sue would kill me if they found out."

"You shouldn't have to worry about that; there's no reason at all. You look amazing," she told me quietly, and with such intensity that I could feel myself blushing. I looked down at my plate and started eating, but I could still feel her eyes on me for a few more seconds, until she continued eating as well.

After a while we had all finished our food, and took our dishes out to the kitchen. I started to help them clear up, but her parents shooed me away and told me that I had done more than enough by buying the food, and should relax with Brittany for the rest of the night.

She grabbed my hand and dragged me to her room, talking about how there was a bunch of films we could watch. We got in her room and she jumped on her bed, wincing when she landed on her leg, but patting the space next to her.

When I sat down she asked "what d'you wanna do?"

Shrugging, I smiled "I don't mind; whatever you want to do."  
>She walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a few DVDs, holding them up and asking me which one I wanted. I pointed to a random one, and her face lit up as she ran over to the TV and put it in the player.<p>

Scooting back I against the headboard I watched as she turned the light off and jumped under the covers next to me, tugging at it to let me know that I should get under as well. I wiggled around and slipped underneath, smiling at her as she started the film.

As the film progressed, we gradually moved closer together, and she was resting her head on my shoulder, pressed up against my arm. Noticing her fidgeting, I pulled my arm back and wrapped it around her waist, letting her burrow into my side after a slight hesitation. Unsure of where to put my hand, I hovered it over her for a few seconds and then gently rested it on her hip, my hand curling around it naturally.

She rested her head against my chest in response and curled up against me more, tucking her legs into her body. I smiled down at her head before I turned my attention to the rest of the movie, content to stay like that for the rest of the night.

The film ended and she shifted against me, slowly peeling herself away and sitting up. She was staring at me in the flickering light of the credits, and I was getting slightly unnerved by the way she seemed to be assessing me.

"What?" I asked self consciously.

Shrugging her shoulders, she bit her bottom lip and looked away from me, before looking back a few seconds later. "I just…I'm worried."

"Why?" I asked, worried about her myself because of that. What would she have to be worried about? Unless something new had happened with Rico?

"Why did you want to be friends with me?"

I sat back a little, surprised at the question. I tilted my head to the side and thought about what I should tell her. I didn't want to lie to her and risk losing what I had managed to build, but I also didn't want to expose my vulnerabilities. I chewed on my bottom lip and decided, "you're different. I'm sure you know by now that I'm not the most…kind person ever, but I don't even have to try with you. I couldn't be a bitch around you even if I wanted to, and I guess I found it refreshing. There's something about you that-" I cut myself off suddenly, aware of what I was about to say. Noticing her looking at me curiously I shrugged and gave a shy smile.

"That what?"

"Why do you want to know; why are you asking now?"

She looked troubled and confessed "I haven't exactly had the best track record with friends. I…I choose the wrong people. My mom said that I'm too trusting and naïve and that people take advantage of that. I've worked hard to try and cut myself off from that part of me, I suppose – to not be as trusting as I used to be. Too much trust can be a bad thing."

She paused for a minute and I nodded, letting her know I was listening. As she started talking again she looked into my eyes, watching for something. "Trust is really important to me. And the truth. It might seem like a weird time to bring this up, but we've gotten really close really quickly, and I just need to know that you don't have an ulterior motive; that you're doing it for my friendship, and nothing else."

I looked down at my hands in my lap, feeling guilty that I had been lying to Brittany all this time.

I didn't know what to do.

While I had gone to her house with the aim of telling her everything, her latest revelation scared me. I didn't want to tell her the truth, only to lose her.

She wouldn't be able to protect herself without me. And I'm not saying that because she's Brittany, and probably wouldn't be able to hurt a fly; or because I'm badass, and could beat anyone in a fight, hands down; but because I knew my brother, and I knew that the only way Brittany would definitely be able to stay safe is by me being there to stop him if anything happens. He may be a murderer, but I was sure that he would listen to me if it came down to it. I would be able to protect her in a way no one else could.

So, while it killed me to look her in the eyes and tell her that I wasn't lying, and that I had absolutely no ulterior motive to becoming friends with her, I knew that I had no choice, and had to do it for her.

Grabbing her hands, I put on my most earnest expression, and looked into her eyes "of course not, Britt. I meant what I said before; there's something different about you, which makes me want to be your friend. Your best friend. I've really enjoyed spending time with you, and I'd never think about hurting you at all."

She studied my eyes for a few minutes, staying completely still, and I kept gazing in her eyes, trying to convey that what I said was the truth.

Just not the complete truth.

She broke into a smile and said "Thank you, San. I knew I could trust you."

She pulled me into a hug, but I could feel my heart break a little, the guilt eating away at me already. I didn't know how long I'd be able to last with this secret, before I spilled.

I wrapped my arms tight around her and held on for dear life, begging myself not to cry. My face was nuzzled into her neck, and I was lazily breathing in her smell, feeling myself calm down almost instantly.

We were sat like that for while, entwined on the bed, then I felt Brittany slowly start to pull away. I pulled back and looked at her face, which was right next to mine.

Her eyes were sparkling, and I glanced down to her lips, which were parted slightly. I could feel her breath lightly hitting my cheek and I looked back up into her eyes, which were flickering between my own and my lips.

Her cheeks flushed and she moved her head closer, her nose nudging mine, and breath hitting my lips. I breathed in deeply, it catching in my throat as I eyed her lips again. My head titled to the side as hers did the same and we slowly closed the gap, stopping millimetres away from each other.

We gazed into each other's eyes again and just stayed there for a while, suspended in time and communicating in a way we never had before. She licked her lips, and closed her eyes as she closed the distance, lips meeting lips softly.

My eyes snapped shut as I focussed on the feeling of her lips moving against mine – soft, and wet, and gentle. Her hand travelled up my arm and over my shoulder, cupping my neck gently as her thumb rubbed slow circles across my cheek.

My mind stopped working as soon as our lips made contact; I couldn't think about where to put my hands, or what to do, other than to follow Brittany's lips as they moved.

I was lost in the moment, until I heard footsteps in the hallway, walking into the room opposite. We gradually pulled away from each other and I sat back on the bed, not remembering rising and pushing into the kiss as it had went on.

We were sat there in silence, staring at each other again, content to just observe the other's expressions.

Her eyes were crinkled as she smiled at me, the blue of her eyes electric in the still light of the television.

"That was nice," she whispered, smile still firmly in place.

I let out a breathy chuckle and replied simply "it was."

We studied each other for a few seconds again, until her expression turned serious and she whispered "I need to ask you something else."

I nodded and smiled at her encouragingly.

She took a deep breath, then asked "why did you lie to your dad when he asked me if I was new to town?"

The smile fell from my face and I leaned back slightly, mind racing, trying to think of a reasonable excuse. "He-uh-well…he can get protective, and doesn't like the idea of…people from bigger towns. I didn't want him to not like you, just because of something you can't control."

She bit her lip, and sat in silence, seemingly thinking through what I had said.

I would've been surprised if she believed me, considering how terrible that lie actually was. I had tried to mix it with the truth, like I was doing with everything I said to her recently, but really? He's a doctor; most of the people he works with aren't from Lima, or at least lived somewhere else for years. Like he did when he was in college.

Pushing herself off the bed, she walked around the end and said "it's getting late. We better get ready for bed now."

My heart jumped at hearing that, and I smiled softly, nodding as I got up off the bed and picked my bag up from its place by the wall. I convinced myself that it was good; as long as she didn't call me out on it again, her curiosity over my father and the rest of my family wouldn't matter.

"I'll just go clean my teeth first," Brittany told me, as she grabbed her pyjamas from their folded position on her computer chair.

She shut her door behind her, and I pulled my own pyjamas out and got ready almost in a trance, opening the door back up when I was finished. I sat on the bed and fiddled with my fingers as I waited for her to return.

I didn't know what that kiss meant; I had definitely enjoyed it, and it seemed like Brittany did too, but I didn't know what that meant for us. She seemed to mean it, and that made me undeniably happy, but also filled me with a sense of dread at the same time. Now that she was gone, though, my head was starting to return to normal, and allowed me to think clearly.

Every time I was with Brittany, I didn't worry about what was happening, as long as she was happy and safe. I couldn't bring myself to regret the kiss; nothing that perfect could ever be regretted, but I knew that it shouldn't happen again. She was in danger, and my growing feelings for her would only increase that; how could I protect her properly, if I wasn't seeing everything clearly? I'd most likely hurt her anyway – I was only just managing to hold on to the friendship we had built; anything more than that, I would be sure to fuck up.

I would have to pretend that it didn't happen. Our friendship would remain, but nothing more.

She walked back into the room then and turned the TV off and started packing everything up as I made my way to the bathroom hurrying to get everything done. A minute later I turned the light off and entered Brittany's room again, shutting the door behind me and walking to her bed.

It was dark in the room, with only a little moonlight managing to shine through the curtains, falling on Brittany who was already in her bed, under the covers. She grinned at me as I got under them as well, and turned to face me, resting her head on the pillow opposite me. I did the same, and we watched each other, waiting for the other to fall asleep.

This would be the last time I would allow myself to be so close to her, so I absorbed every moment I spent with Brittany in that bed, committing every feature on her face to memory, smiling at each new thing I noticed.

Brittany succumbed to sleep first, and I watched her face as it relaxed even more, feeling guiltier than I thought was possible. I could feel it eating away at me and growing like a monster, taking over my chest and filling me with its presence. It continued to gnaw at me until I entered dreamland, but even then I wasn't allowed to fully relax, as my dreams revolved around being chased and engulfed in shadows.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> What do you think? That kiss was the hardest thing I've had to write; it took ages, but I managed to get it right the first time. I hope you enjoyed it all!

When I first wrote it, Santana acted fairly normally and happily to the kiss, but then I thought that it may have been happening too fast, and so changed it, and made her question it more. It's been about 3.5 weeks since they met, but just under a week since Santana joined Glee and became friends with Britt.

Review and let me know your thoughts, please? : )


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thank you to _Thundering Ice_, _vieledgreyskies_, _BabyD-MontanaGirl_, _Poppin'Freshx_, _XanDany_, _and mick3y92_ for the reviews! Six! I'm blown away :D And thanks to _gaga4brittana_ and _BrittSnixx_ for the messages. :)

Massive thanks to _**vieledgreyskies**_ for becoming my Beta, and helping with everything! :D

Sorry that it's a day late. I was out all day yesterday Birthday shopping with my family, then hanging out with friends, so I didn't have a chance to update when I got home.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 9<span>

I burrowed my head into the arm underneath me, clinging to the last traces of sleep that was quickly fading. I had hoped that sleep would absolve me of the guilt I felt from lying to Brittany, however that didn't seem to be the case. The little sleep I had managed to gain had been mostly filled with nightmares and general restlessness. It was only a couple of hours earlier, that I had managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

Stretching my legs out a little, I felt another pair of legs wrapped around mine. Suddenly I noticed the arm slung around my waist, and our intertwined hands clutched to my chest. I turned my head and saw Brittany still sleeping, with a serene smile on her face.

I relaxed and pressed back into her body, enjoying the feel of being tangled with her. My eyes fluttered shut and I let out a sigh of contentment, incredibly happy with waking up to Brittany like this.

The kiss last night felt like a dream, and I was worried what would happen when we were back in school, out of our cocoon of happiness. I didn't want to have to face up to what had happened, and talk about feelings, because I knew that as soon as that happened I would fuck everything up and ruin it all. Because, while the kiss we shared was perfect – unimaginably so – I would never be able to admit that to Brittany, or anyone else for that matter. I would deny it with every fibre of my being, because I wouldn't be able to leave myself so vulnerable.

I knew that I should just appreciate every moment I had with her, before that imminent conversation arises. Because, once that happens, she would be sure to hate me.

After a few minutes I opened my eyes again and looked at the clock, shooting up when I saw the time; 05:46. Cheerios practice was at 06:00 sharp.

Jumping out of bed, I whispered sharply "Britt! Brittany, get up!" She didn't move, so I threw a pillow at her while I quickly pulled on my Cheerios outfit, rushing to get ready. She sat up and looked around blearily, eyes resting on me as I zipped up my skirt and pulled the top over my head.

"What…?" She asked, confused.

"Practice is in ten minutes. There's no way we'll get there on time, so hurry up. I just hope Coach isn't there, or she'll kill us." She shot up then, and her eyes widened, falling over herself onto her uniform, folded on her seat.

Vaulting out of her bed, she stripped out of her pyjamas as she went, and pulled on her clothes just as quickly, looking like one of those quick change artists. I brushed my hair and threw it into a ponytail, nowhere near the standard Coach required.

Yanking my toothbrush out of my bag, I ran to the bathroom, grateful no one else was awake at this time, and started brushing my teeth, Brittany arriving at the sink at the same time. We stood side by side cleaning our teeth, and she grinned at me in the mirror, toothpaste dripping down her chin. I laughed and choked on my own toothpaste slightly, sending her a playful glare as I spat it out and rinsed my mouth out.

We had no time for makeup, so we quickly gathered up our stuff and ran to the car, deciding to get any food in the cafeteria after practice.

Speeding all the way there, the car ride to practice was silent and by the time I skidded into my usual parking space it was 06:05, not too bad, considering it normally takes twenty minutes, I managed to halve the journey. I was suddenly glad for the lack of police found around Lima in the mornings.

We jumped out of the car and left our bags there until after practice, having no time to head to the locker room first. Sprinting to the field, I listened out for the sound of manic screeching into a megaphone, but found it blissfully silent. I let out a breath and stopped running, pulling on Brittany's arm softly.

"I think we're alright to walk from now on. I don't hear anything, so Coach Sue probably isn't there."

She nodded and continuing walking, leaving me behind a couple of feet. I noticed her limping slightly, and heard a whimper escape her lips.

"Shit! Britt, I'm so sorry, I forgot, here," I grabbed her arm and pulled it over my shoulder, before wrapping my arm securely around her waist.

"I like being this close to you," she mused, and I stumbled before I regained my footing, humming to show I heard her.

"How _is_ the leg?"

She shrugged and told me "alright. I just forgot to take my pain meds, so it hurts a bit."

"Do you have them with you?"

She shook her head "I realised once we were driving that I forgot them. It's okay though, it'll get better as the day goes on."

I sighed, "why didn't you tell me? I would have gone back and got them."

"Exactly," I could hear the smile in her voice "we were already late; I didn't want to get us into any more trouble."

I shook my head at her "I don't care about that. You're in pain now. I'll go back and get them after practice. We have half an hour between when it ends, and when lessons start; I'll be fast."

"You'll miss your lesson."

"No I won't, my driving rocks," I laughed. "If I do though, it's only chem and the teacher won't say anything to me."

She was about to respond, when we got onto the field and noticed the huddle of girls looking around, probably wondering where the Coach or myself was. Suddenly, they all looked towards us, and then started running over, voices overlapping each other.

"Look out, they're about to descend," I warned her.

She let out a little chuckle, and waved to everyone running toward us.

"What did you do to her?"

"What's wrong with you, B?"

Everyone was talking and shouting as they surrounded us, and I heard words such as "bitch" and "Satan" mumbled throughout them.

"Shut up!" I shouted, glad when they did as they were told. Quinn was stood on my left, and I nodded for her to help with Brittany's other side. She quickly did so, and mumbled a greeting to Brittany, smiling at her kindly.

Stepping away from her slightly when Quinn had a firm grip, I addressed the rest of the group; "I _love_ how everyone assumes I am enough of a bitch to hurt Brittany while on the way to practice and how I'm stupid enough to then help her and turn up with her. You want to know what happened to her? Ask her after practice. Now get in line!" They snapped into line quickly. Ignoring them, I smirked, knowing that I still held all the power over the girls and that they were all still scared of me.

Returning to Brittany's side, Quinn and I helped her to the first row in the bleachers, we put her on the seat and I told her "just sit here and watch, see if you can remember what's happening. I won't do anything that you need to learn though, so you should be alright to sleep if you want. Just don't let anyone else catch you."

I laughed and heard movement behind me, suddenly remembering that Quinn was with us. I cleared my throat and turned around, just in time to see Coach Sylvester storming onto the field. I quickly moved away from Brittany and told Quinn to join the line of girls, not wanting to get either in trouble.

"Lopez! Would you like to explain to me as to why I looked out of my window at six-oh-seven, expecting to see my Cheerios hard at work on their new routine for Nationals, and instead saw them gossiping like a bunch of old loonies on Prozac?"

"Sorry, Coach. I was running a little late. It won't happen again." I looked at the floor, knowing better than to look Medusa in the eyes.

She looked at everyone assembled in the line, with their backs ramrod straight and eyes straight forward, then her eyes fell on Brittany a few feet behind me, "Pierce! Why are you sat there? Get in line with the other girls. NOW!"

I heard Brittany scramble to get up and sent her a look and shake of my head, turning back to Coach, stepping forward and telling her "she was just explaining to me how she can't take part in practice for a couple of weeks. She was in a car crash, and was lucky it was only her leg injured. My father was telling me about it last night, although I didn't know it was her at the time, but she's lucky to be alive. Other people in the crash got off much worse."

She merely hummed and stepped around me to Brittany, hand held out expectantly, "doctor's note."

Brittany looked at me in panic and I realised that she had forgotten that as well. I took another step forward and said "she for-"

"She can speak for herself, Lopez. Where's the doctor's note?"

I stepped back and shrugged, looking at her apologetically.

"Uhh...I forgot it, sorry. I'll bring it in tomorrow?" I winced, knowing that was the wrong thing to say.

"No you won't. Join the line."

Brittany looked panicked, and I mimed holding a phone up to my ear, trying to let her know that Coach could phone my father for confirmation.

She furrowed her brow and stayed silent for a couple of seconds, before rising slowly and limping toward the field.

"Coach, if you just-" I tried.

"What did I just tell you, Sandbags? She can cheer with a little scratch; you think that's hard? I'm passing a gallstone as we speak! That's hard!"

I blanched, but then quickly carried on "but-"

"No buts! Shut up and get in line with your girlfriend, now, before I demote you to the bottom of the pyramid!"

I stared at her, shocked and trying to figure out if she actually knew anything about me and Brittany, or if it was just her being herself. Her eyes narrowed and she stood straighter, opening her mouth to speak again, but before she could I turned around and huffed, but did as I was told.

Glaring at anyone who looked at me, I shot Brittany an apologetic grimace and took my place in the middle of the line next to Quinn, clasping my hands behind me, and waiting for orders.

Practice passed slowly, with me watching over Brittany whenever I could and hovering around her, worried she'd collapse. I could see her sweating and grimacing every now and then, but she seemed to be doing alright, considering. I didn't know for sure, but it seemed like Coach may have been going slightly easier on her than the rest of the girls; me included.

After practice I ran to my car and grabbed our bags while Brittany made her way to the locker room with Quinn's help. I hurried back and got our shower stuff out, flying into a stall and taking the quickest shower ever, knowing that I had to leave as soon as possible to get back to school in time.

Brittany definitely needed her pain meds after taking part in a two hour practice that she wasn't meant to do in the first place.

Luckily, Brittany finished the same time as me and we made our way back to my car, with Quinn also helping her along.

I left Quinn to help her into the car as I got in myself, and Brittany told her thank you, while I just nodded. She smiled and shut the door, so I quickly peeled out of the parking lot. I was driving just as fast as I was earlier in the day, with the music on lowly in the background.

"How are you feeling?" I turned and looked at her, seeing her head resting on her hand against the window.

She shrugged and muttered "fine, I guess. It's not as bad as I thought it would be."

I hummed in thought and told her "sorry I couldn't get her to back off. I didn't think she'd go that far; usually she's bad, but she wouldn't normally risk someone's injury getting worse."

"I'll be alright once I take some pills. Thanks for this."

"No problem; I wanted to." I smiled. "Are you too tired to go to school though? The meds will probably make you tired as well. You might just be best to stay home today, and rest your leg from anymore strain."

"Are you trying to get me away from you?"

My eyes widened, about to vehemently deny it when she giggled and I realised she was joking. "I'm just worried that this will be too much for you today. We didn't get much sleep last night as it was and…what?"

Her eyes sparkled and she smirked "you worry too much."

"I don't!"

"You do," she smiled "but don't worry, it's cute."

I gasped and opened and closed my mouth, trying to think of something to say. Finally, I struggled out "I'm _not_ cute."

I could see her staring at me, not saying anything, so I repeated myself more firmly "_I am not cute_."

She smiled widely, but I stared resolutely ahead, and so she conceded, "whatever you say."

I tried to keep my face straight, but a smile cracked through, and she laughed, but didn't say anything else.

I suddenly felt a pull behind my eyes, and was barely able to tense before I was jerked into a memory.

_Yawning, I stretched and rested my hand on her bare back, slowly running my hand up and down. She sighed and nuzzled into my chest even more, her eyelashes fluttering against me as she blinked lazily and raised her hand to my stomach, tracing invisible patterns into my skin. _

"_I love you," she murmured, resting her chin on my chest and looking up into my eyes._

_I smiled and kissed her forehead, unable to control the smile blooming across my face and spreading deep into my chest. "I love you too."_

I drew in a deep breath as I opened my eyes, the beeping of horns loud in my ears. I looked around, and saw Brittany's eyes, wide and gazing at me from her seat, but I snapped my eyes to the mirror, and saw a few cars waiting behind me.

I quickly started driving again, grateful that I had been able to stop the car before the memory took complete control of me. If that had happened, I could have continued driving, unaware of what was surrounding me, and crashed into the upcoming corner.

It was silent for a few seconds, but I could feel Brittany's eyes boring into the side of my head. I refused to look, or start the conversation, so she sighed, and asked "what happened then? Why did you just stop?"

I shrugged slowly, trying to buy myself more time, then unable to think of anything else, said "I thought I saw something."

"Saw what? There was nothing on the road. And that doesn't explain why you just sat there with your eyes closed, ignoring everything."

I opened and closed my mouth, and stuttered "I-I-there…"

"Please," Brittany almost whimpered, and I chanced a glance at her. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she looked so desperate to hear the truth.

I could feel tears starting to form in my own eyes, seeing her look at me like that, so I looked back to the road and said "I remembered something, and it…worried me. I just had to clear my mind for a little bit, because I didn't want to crash."

"But we almost crashed anyway. You braked so fast that the car behind us almost went into us."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, upset that she had to see me like that, and that I'd endangered her. I glanced at her quickly, so she could see that I meant it, and then looked back at the road.

She shook her head "you just scared me. I was really worried when you weren't answering. It was like you weren't even there. Are you sure that is all it was? Cause you can tell me if it wasn't, I won't like, judge you or anything."

"No," I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel subconsciously. I shook my head resolutely, "I just remembered something."

* * *

><p>I walked into chemistry just as the bell rang and took my seat, grimacing at the smirk Noah Puckerman sent me as I sat down next to him.<p>

"Hey, babe. What's say we meet up later behind Lima Bean and have a little lovin' lovin', somethin' somethin'?"

"How's about no, and you get out of my space afores you find yourself missing a little 'somethin' somethin''?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Come on, don't be like that. You can't deny; we got chemistry." He tapped the textbooks on the desk in front of us, letting me know that he's _oh so clever_, and knows how to use puns.

"That's the worst line I've ever heard, and that's saying something, considering I've been propositioned by Jewfro several times."

"Well your dad thinks that we're a good match. It's only a matter of time."

"Luckily for me, I make my own decisions."

"Ms Lopez! Do you have a problem?"

"Yes, actually. _Puckerman_ can't keep his dick in his pants and accept the fact that I actually have some class and don't want to fuck him. Because – let's face it – he's not going to do any of the work. I doubt he even knows how to please a woman."

The teacher opened and closed her mouth a couple of times and looked uncomfortable. Finally, she shuffled some papers on her desk and continued with the lesson, while Puck glared at me.

"What was that?"

"The cold, hard truth. Look at you; I bet you spend the majority of the morning trying to make your Mohawk resemble anything other than a dead squirrel, without any luck, may I add. You're so incredibly vain, I don't think I've met a guy who cares about his appearance more than you. Not even Kurt." I added, when I saw him about to object.

He faced the front and said nothing else, while I smirked.

For the rest of the lesson I thought about the recent revelations about him. I wasn't worried about how he would react when I said that to the teacher, as I couldn't imagine he was doing any of the important, mega illegal stuff, so he wouldn't have enough guts to _do_ anything. He wouldn't try to hurt me or get me back for saying a couple of things about him in class.

Anyway, even if he wanted to, he worked with Rico, and wanted to be in my father's good graces, so I doubt he'd do anything to jeopradise that. In fact, I could probably do anything I wanted to him, and he wouldn't be able to react. I may even be able to get him to do some things for me, if I needed it.

I wouldn't sink that low that fast though.

* * *

><p>I was sat in my seat in English Literature, already ten minutes into the lesson, when a knock sounded on the door, and Brittany walked in and over to the teacher, holding a note out to him.<p>

He scanned over it, and looked up at all us of, saying "Brittany is joining our classes from now on. The only spare seat is next to Santana, so she'll be your desk buddy."

I moved my folder and pens onto my half of the table and she walked over, placing her bag on top and sending me a smile as she sat down. "Hi again."

"Hi," I replied.

"Okay class, have a look at this poem and tell me what it is about; what you think about it. Remember, you cannot be wrong; there are countless interpretations, and it can be about what it means to you, rather than the intention when writing it." He handed out a piece of paper to pairs, and we leaned together to read it.

It was titled 'The Swans at Coole', by William Butler Yeats, and a few lines in particular stuck out to me.

'I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,

And now my heart is sore.

All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,

The first time on this shore,'

'Unwearied still, lover by lover,

They paddle in the cold'

'But now they drift on the still water,

Mysterious, beautiful;'

I felt like I could somewhat identify with how he seemed to be feeling; since I had met Brittany, I hadn't felt the same, and couldn't act as I used to. She made me long for something I was sure would be impossible; wish for something so perfect that it couldn't possibly be real.

Clearing my throat, I turned to face Brittany and said "I think that he's saying how he's missing something he has never, nor will he ever have. Ever since he visited the swans, nineteen years ago, he has been aware that he wants to love as swans do. So completely and ultimately, yet simply an unyielding love. But, being aware of what he's missing hasn't changed anything, and so he's still as lonely as he was the first year when he visited them; if not more so."

"But why will he never have that kind of love? He can't know that; if he doesn't give up looking for the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with, then he's sure to find it. People say perfect is impossible, but it's not. Everyone has a different idea of what is perfect. It doesn't include only the good stuff, but the bad as well; you need a balance to be able to live _perfectly_. I think it's sad that he's given up on something he could have."

"He's accepted that he's not going to have it, and so to suddenly change his mind and hope for something that he long ago accepted he wouldn't get, and most likely won't anyway, is just cruel. He'll be hoping for something that is impossible, as well as missing it. It won't help him, only hinder him even more. He knows that he won't get it anyway; it's too perfect to be real and attainable, so why bother?"

"Because he deserves it and, if you try hard enough, you can get anything you want." She shook her head a bit and smiled, before continuing, "what's the point of living, if you're just going to give up every time something happens? If you're going to stop at every hurdle, not even attempting to jump it?"

"It's been long enough; if he just started looking for it again after all that time, he might as well be stopping at every hurdle, because he won't get anywhere. If he does what you're suggesting, he'll be running the same track over and over again, not getting anywhere because it doesn't _lead anywhere_."

Brittany was about to respond when the teacher stopped us and told everyone to feedback their ideas. She bit her lip and looked at me before turning around and facing the front, listening to the discussion.

* * *

><p>We were sat in Glee Club, and Brittany and I were the first to arrive, so she had chosen seats in the middle of the first row. Everyone else had filed in, apart from Mr. Schuester, so we were just talking to each other, waiting for him.<p>

Quinn was sat on my left, with Brittany on my right, and Rachel on hers. He swept into the room, and clapped his hands as he stopped in the centre.

"Right everyone, Brittany has asked to perform a song today, so we'll let her start us off." He moved to a chair on the side of the room, and nodded at everyone.

Brittany shot me a smile before bouncing off her seat and standing in the spot that Schuester had just vacated. As the opening notes rang through the room, she looked at the floor and took a deep breath in.

After singing the first few lines, she looked up and found my eyes, smiling through the pain I could see in her eyes, and hear in her voice.

_But if you look for truthfulness_

_You might just as well be blind_

_It always seems to be so hard to give_

_Honesty is such a lonely word_

_Everyone is so untrue_

_Honesty is hardly ever heard_

_And mostly what I need from you_

_But I don't want some pretty face_

_To tell me pretty lies_

_All I want is someone to believe_

I looked down at my hands in my lap, those lines bringing back all of the guilt I was feeling the night before. I could feel her looking at me, and so fixed a smile onto my face, glancing up and catching her eyes, nodding my head to show her that I understood.

_When I'm deep inside of me_

_Don't be too concerned_

_I won't ask for nothin' while I'm gone_

_But when I want sincerity_

_Tell me where else can I turn_

_Because you're the only one that I depend on_

She looked around the rest of the room, holding eye contact with everyone as she went. I saw Quinn looking at me through my peripherals, but when I glanced at her she was staring back at Brittany.

_Honesty is such a lonely word_

_Everyone is so untrue_

_Honesty is hardly ever heard_

_And mostly what I need from you_

She looked up from the floor when everyone started clapping and whistling, beaming and laughing. Skipping back to her seat next to me, she called a thank you to Brad and the band, and linked her arm with mine.

Mr. Schuester was clapping as he walked back into his spot in the middle of the room. "Well done, Brittany. That was beautiful, we could all hear the emotion behind the words…now!" He exclaimed, casting a wide smile at all of us, "I've organised a nice friendly competition between everyone." He cast a pointed look a Rachel "You will pair up and perform a song – any song – which will win you tickets to Breadstix. If you're lucky enough, that is. Choose who you want to work with now."

I turned to look at Brittany, when she was pulled out of her seat and Mercedes said "she's with me for this one; you'll have to find someone else."

I scowled at her and Brittany shrugged, looking apologetic. Glancing around the room, I saw everyone with their partners and laughing with them, but then saw blonde hair flash from my left

I turned and saw Quinn grinning at me, with an eyebrow raised. When she saw me looking, she asked "wanna pair up?"

"Sure," I smiled, figuring she was the second best choice.

"Great." We were sat in silence for a couple of minutes, as everyone else talked and laughed, when she spoke up again, "that was nice. What you did for Brittany earlier – standing up for her against Coach Sylvester."

I was staring straight ahead, but faced her then, "Well she's new, and doesn't know what she should say around her. Anyway, I didn't want her taking part and ruining the routine because she can't even stand up properly. That would just waste our time and my patience."

"And you helped her onto the field because?"

I narrowed my eyes, both trying to figure out why she was questioning me, and what I could say that wouldn't make me sound as if I'm going soft. After a few seconds I said "I don't see why you need to know, but it was the fastest way to get her to the field and practice started. I found her struggling on at a snail's pace, and knew that I had to help her to the bleachers – which would also prevent the rest of the squad from gossiping with her – if I ever wanted to start the training."

She smirked in a way I could tell that she just knew that what I said was bullshit, but she didn't call me out on it, which I was grateful for.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> As you may have figured, I don't have the wit of Santana or Sue, so whatever I made them say probably fell flat, or was used in the show :D

The song that Brittany sang is called 'Honesty', by Billy Joel. I didn't include all of it, just the parts that I think applied to what she was trying to say.

Please review and let me know what you thought! :)

I have a tumblr at ImagineBrittana, if you want to check them out :)


	10. Chapter 10

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Cyan55_ (who wasn't logged in when reviewing, so if you didn't get my reply, sorry), _Stoic Last Stand_, _vieledgreyskies _and _Rosetoast_ for reviewing! And to _BiaSilveira_ for the message :)

I couldn't PM _Rosetoast_, so here's your reply: Thank you! I try to make it different :P What about the memory did you want explained? It's two random people…the first nice memory we have seen, I believe :D I can't really think of anything to say about it :)

Oh, and thanks to elfypelfy (I believe) or themagicalway (on tumblr) for the fanart of Rico Lopez! :)

Massive thanks to my Beta _**vieledgreyskies**_ for fixing everything and making me sound less common ;)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 10<span>

Walking out of the locker room, I held the door open for Brittany as she followed behind me. It was the end of the day, and everyone else had left, as Brittany and I had taken our time packing all of the equipment away and showering.

"Thanks," she smiled, as she linked her arm with mine, and pulled me in the direction of the car park.

"No problem."

"So, I was thinking; we should totally have a double sleepover round my house," seeing my questioning look, she added "if you sleep over tonight, we can spend all day tomorrow with each other and we won't have to worry about fitting everything in."

"Sounds good," I grinned, as we reached my car and I unlocked it. We were standing outside of my car on our respective sides, talking over the top'. "I'll have to pop home first, to get my stuff. I can drop you off, then go get my clothes."

"I don't mind going with you. I don't believe I've seen your house yet, actually," she smiled, to show that she was joking.

Shrugging, I tried to think of a way to put her off, and I slowly said "You should come round another time, when I can show you around properly. I'll be rushing, and won't have time to show you everything."

"Don't be silly," she tilted her head to the side, "you don't have to rush. But okay, I have stuff to do before we can hang out anyway."

I smiled in relief and opened my door as Brittany did the same, shutting them after us and buckling up.

"Great. But I'll be quick anyway; it's not like I have to do anything else at home, other than get some clothes."

She smiled at me as I started driving with just the music on in the background. I found that we regularly sat together in silence, but it wasn't awkward at all; I felt completely comfortable around her and enjoyed the peaceful security of being able to sit with her and not have to think of any small talk.

I pulled up outside her house and she jumped out of the car, turning to me before she shut the door to say "I'll see you in a minute!" before bouncing off into her house excitedly.

I let out a small chuckle at her enthusiasm as I pulled away and drove to my house, thinking about her request. We were hanging out a lot lately and have had a few sleepovers, but I thought it was a little weird that she wanted me to sleep over on a Friday. She usually liked to do her homework and everything then, so that she had the rest of the weekend to do what she wanted.

I was glad she had suggested it though, as I didn't want to spend any extra time at home than I had to, so it provided me with the escape I so desperately craved.

Plus, you know, it's not like I hated her company or anything.

I pulled up to my house and left the car idling as I got out and ran up to the door, not anticipating being long enough for it to matter.

I ran up to my room and packed my bag, putting a few different outfit choices in there, as I didn't know what she had planned for tomorrow. I exited my room and made my way to the front door, when my name was called from the kitchen.

I walked to the kitchen and stood in the doorway, smiling as Anna turned to look at me.

Spotting the bag over my shoulder she asked softly "where are you going?"

"To my friend's house – Brittany's. I'm sleeping over there tonight and tomorrow. Sorry I forgot to tell you; I don't want you cooking any more food than you have to."

"Nonsense. I have to cook it anyway, and we know that Ricardo will eat any left over food," she laughed.

I pursed my lips and nodded, but didn't say anything, knowing that she would see through anything I had to say about him.

I viewed and treated Anna as my mom, and she always said that I was like a daughter to her. My family treated her like part of the furniture rather than an actual human and issued commands whenever she was in the same room as them, but we'd always had a different relationship.

When I had pulled away from everyone, she was there and really worried for me, always caring for me and never letting me push her away. She would question me, but always knew when to stop, and so I had reserved one spot in my defences for her. She could always tell when I was lying, or if there was something wrong.

I was worried that she would know by my reactions that something had happened with Rico, but I also wondered if she already knew. As I said, my family treated her like furniture and ignored her when they weren't ordering her around. So she had probably heard and seen things that she wasn't meant to.

My brow creased slightly, but she continued the conversation. "I haven't seen this Brittany; you'll have to bring her round sometime. God knows, if she manages to get you to smile like that, she has to be something special."

I felt myself flushing and let my hair cover my face, before smiling. "I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you don't," she laughed. "You better get going anyway, I can see you're impatient to leave."

"Thanks Anna. I'll see you later, okay?"

She nodded and waved goodbye, before getting back to making the food. "Make sure to eat some of that yourself," I said as I walked out of the kitchen, looking over my shoulder to see her laughing in my direction.

I threw my bag in the passenger's seat and drove off, back to Brittany's house. I got there in no time and parked in the driveway, shouldering my bag as I walked up to the door and knocked on it.

There was no answer, so I raised my fist to knock again, when I did, the door opened and Quinn was standing right in front of me. She looked as surprised as I felt in that moment, I even stepped back to check that I had the right house, although I knew that was ridiculous as I'd be able to find Brittany's house in my sleep.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same question," she said, eyeing my bag.

I started to talk, when Brittany called out "thanks for getting the door, Quinn. Let her in."

She stepped back and I entered, closing the door behind me as Brittany rounded the corner towards us.

"I'm so glad you're both here!" she smiled. "Let's get your stuff upstairs, then we can get on with the sleepover.

"Quinn's staying tonight, as well?"

"Of course! I thought it would be nice for the three of us to hang out and get to know each other better. We're all in Cheerios and Glee Club, so it makes sense to all hang out." Her eyes were flickering between both of us and her smile was slowly falling from her face. "Should I not have done this? I just thought it would be nice to all hang out."

I looked at Quinn and she smiled at me before answering "no, I think it's a great idea! I'm working with Santana on our assignment in Glee, so I should probably get to know her better, so I don't get hit if I choose the wrong song." She laughed to show she was joking and Brittany giggled.

She looked at me questioningly, her expression hopeful. "Yeah, Quinn's right. And if you want to hang out with other people, I guess she's the next best one."

Quinn just laughed and said "and that – coming from Santana – is a major compliment, so I'll happily accept it."

I ran upstairs and into Brittany's room, dropping my bag on the floor by her door, before jogging back down again and going into the kitchen, where I knew they were stocking up on junk food.

Sure enough, a few bottles of fizzy drink were placed on the counter, and Brittany was rummaging through the cupboards as Quinn watched and took the food offered, seemingly uncomfortable with going through someone else's food. I would have been, if I hadn't been encouraged to do so by all of Brittany's family members, every time I was around their house. Which was a lot.

At Brittany's request, I opened the sweet drawer and pulled out a lot of random bags, unsure of what Quinn liked, and placed them next to the drinks.

Brittany quickly finished, and we observed the pile of food.

Shaking my head, I told her "there's no way we're going to eat all of this."

"Maybe not, but it's better to be safe than sorry," she grinned. "We can just put back what we don't eat. Let's get it all up to my room now."

We piled our arms with food and drinks, it all balanced on top of each other and almost falling off whenever we moved. I took the lead, moving carefully up the stairs and into her room, dropping it all on the middle of the bed and moving back for Brittany and Quinn to do the same.

They did so, and Quinn put the drinks on the floor next to the bed, then Brittany sprung up onto the pillows, settling in and grinning at us. I stayed stood off by the side with my hands clasped in front of me, unsure of what we were going to do, then looked around and sat in the computer chair.

Brittany looked at me, "what are you doing?"

"Sitting down?"

"Yeah, but sit over here," she patted a space on the bed next to her. "You too, Quinn."

Quinn smiled and perched on the edge, but with Brittany's beckoning she shuffled into the middle more. I stood up and crawled onto the end of the bed, opposite of where Brittany was sat.

Brittany beamed at us, and then started talking, slightly easing the awkwardness I felt; the whole thing still felt a little forced to me, as I wasn't used to hanging around with anyone other than Brittany in my spare time. Brittany seemed to be enjoying it though, and made it seem effortless – including both Quinn and I in the conversation.

Quinn seemed to feel right at home as she laughed with Brittany and settled more into the bed. She was still worried about being polite though, as I spotted her eyeing a bag of sweets in the pile, but not moving to take them, even after the countless times Brittany had told her to eat what she wanted.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Quinn; just take the food," I leant over and grabbed the bag that she was looking at before throwing it at her face. She was lucky that she had caught it in time, and sent me a glare, but placed the bag on her lap, not opening it.

"San," Brittany cautioned, looking between us. I raised my hands in defence and sat back. "You can eat them though, Quinn."

"I'm fine, it's alright. Thanks though."

Brittany plucked the bag from her lap and opened them, before giving them back to her, saying "there; they're open now, and I don't want them going to waste, so you have to eat them."

Quinn laughed and muttered a thanks, while Brittany winked at her.

Quinn offered the bag to both of us as she asked, "so, do you have any hobbies?"

Declining the offer, Brittany said "well, I obviously like to dance. I like pretty much every type of dance. And motocross."

"Motocross?" I asked, surprised. "Like, motorbikes, and racing?"

She nodded "yeah, I've been to a few competitions. I'd like to think I'm fairly good."

I made an impressed noise in the back of my throat, and she asked us the same question.

I shook my head in answer and as Quinn spoke I nodded along, to show that I agreed with what she was saying. "Nope. I wouldn't even say dancing is a hobby, really. I mean, I do cheerleading, but it's not like I do it because I like dancing."

"Why do you do it, then?" Brittany looked genuinely confused.

Quinn looked to me for support, so I answered her slowly. "We like the…privileges that come along with cheerleading."

Brittany seemed to think about this for a bit, before simply nodding. "You're both good at singing though – you can't tell me you're in Glee Club for the privileges."

I bit my lip and looked at the bed spread, lightly tracing the pattern with my eyes. It was silent for a couple of seconds, but I let Quinn answer, knowing that she would have a better one than me. Everyone thought that I was forced to join anyway, so they most likely weren't even expecting me to answer.

"Glee Club's great." I could hear the smile in her voice, and looked up to see a small grin on her face – one that I hadn't seen on her before. "I guess…" she hesitated and looked at me, seemingly worried, before she continued with an encouraging smile from Brittany. "We're all really close, and it's not just because of the singing that I'm still in it. The people are like a family to me now. Probably better than-" she suddenly stopped talking and looked away, shrugging and refusing to say any more.

I looked at her curiously, and wondered what she was about to say. I didn't really know too much about _her_, but I knew that her parents were regarded in pretty high standing in the community and seemed to be busy and away from home a lot, much like my own. I'd say that her family were much more legal than my own though.

Brittany smiled sadly, seeming to be thinking along the same lines as I was, and reached out to place her hand on Quinn's knee. She looked down at the hand providing her comfort, but didn't do anything about it. I thought that I could see a small smile curving at the edges of her lips though.

Brittany removed her hand, and said "well, since you two are at the top of the social ladder in school, you must know all the gossip. What's the latest? Or, y'know, anything, as I don't really know anything about anyone at the moment."

Quinn smiled slightly, but still looked down after that conversation, so I gasped "Britt! I never thought you were the type to gossip. I don't know if Quinn and I can hang out here anymore, after hearing that vital piece of information. I mean, do you not know us at all – me and Quinn gossip? Never!"

"Well darnit, if we're not going to be friends anymore, I guess I can't find anything really gossip-worthy about you two. I'll have to resort to Mercedes and Tina."

I clasped a hand to my heart as I said "I feel so used right now. But I guess I shouldn't feel guilty then, that the real reason I wanted to sleep over was to eat all of your deliciously unhealthy food. And, you know, to steal all of your dance moves.

Quinn let a smile take over her face as she replied "You should feel relieved that Brittany let you stay over then; your dance moves really could do with an improvement. Plus, I have to say, this is the best selection of candy I have ever seen. You could open up your own sweet shop with this."

Brittany shrugged and laughed "it's mainly my sister's sweets. But that's okay, she never notices when I steal them anyway, and if she does I can just replace them. But we usually just strike up a deal instead; like, I'll let her use my computer for a few hours, if she lets me eat some of her sweets." Seeing our raised eyebrows she said "it works!"

"I'm surprised," I remarked, "she seems to really enjoy her junk food."

Brittany laughed and said "she loves you so much, since you bought kebabs for us; she never stops asking when you're going to be over."

I smirked and shrugged at her, raising my eyebrow, and receiving a chocolate bar thrown at my face in return. "Don't be so cocky!" Brittany laughed.

"Okay, okay! Right," I stood up off the bed, "I'm going to the bathroom; don't miss me too much."

Brittany nodded and sat back against the headboard, turning to Quinn as I exited the room and starting up another conversation.

I smiled as I walked, and wondered how this had happened. When I had first found out that Quinn was staying the night as well, I didn't think it was the best idea ever, as we hadn't had a proper conversation outside of school before, and I thought that it would be too late now. I was pleasantly surprised, though, that the initial awkwardness had disappeared, and the conversation managed to flow smoothly.

I had no doubt that it was Brittany's influence, but I was still fairly proud that I managed to get on with someone else without wanting to kill either them or myself.

Their bathroom was downstairs, and I had to pass the living room to get to it, so I paused briefly to say hello to her family. Her mum had came upstairs earlier and asked if we wanted any food, but Brittany said that we were fine with snacks, but we'd get something later if we wanted it.

I used the toilet quickly and then ran back upstairs, the carpet blanketing my footfalls. As I walked to Brittany's room, I heard Brittany and Quinn's low voices and slowed down, wondering why they sounded serious, and like they were trying not to be overheard.

Hearing Quinn speak my name, I stopped just before the doorway and listened intently to what was being said.

"No, I mean…I've never seen her act like this before. And sure, we're not actually friends, so I maybe wouldn't get the chance to be around her and the people she likes at the same time. But that's my point; I'm not her friend. And not for lack of trying. I've known her since we were little, and I guess you could say we were friends then, but every little kid is, right? But in high school, more notably, she wasn't friends with anyone. So I've known her for that long and have never managed to get her act like that, yet you're here for three weeks, and…"

"I don't understand; are you saying that it's a bad thing?"

"No, god no," Quinn exclaimed. "Anything that makes her act like this is good. You're good for her, Brittany, I just don't know how you do it. Everyone likes you – you should hear what the girls on the squad say – but she seems to like you more than them put together."

I felt my eyes widen, and took in a deep breath, hoping Brittany wouldn't say anything to make her any more suspicious than she already was.

"I don't think she does. I just think that if what you're saying is right, that it's more obvious, and feels like more, because she doesn't act like that with anyone else."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Quinn murmured. "Just don't hurt her. I know that it sounds weird, especially when I'm sure people have warned you against her, rather than the other way around, but you have to be careful. Just because I'm not friends with her, doesn't mean that I don't know her. I reached out to her enough times to learn some things about her. I don't blame her for not accepting my friendship – she has a hard time opening up to people enough to let them in and be vulnerable. She wasn't even like this with her boyfriends; I've heard them talking, and she didn't do any of the emotional stuff, didn't act affectionate or caring."

I felt myself flush, but narrowed my eyes in anger, wondering who she thought she was to tell Brittany that. That was no one's business, and I didn't want Brittany to think so little of me. Quinn continued before I could think anymore, "so just, for her to have let you in and accepted you this much already is important, and I don't want anything to happen to that. I can tell that she is happy being friends with you and if something happened to jeopardise that, she would be devastated."

"Thank you. I understand that and think it's lovely that Santana has a friend to look out for her." I heard Quinn make a noise, but Brittany quickly cut over her "you _are_ her friend, Quinn. Someone who cares that much to look out for her, especially when she hasn't done so for you, is more than an acquaintance."

I felt weird that they were talking about me behind my back, but I was reassured that it was out of kindness. I had never realised just how much Quinn wanted my friendship; every offer of kindness I was presented with I always ignored and just swept under the carpet, convincing myself that they had some ulterior motive. Which most of them probably did, wanting my protection, and some social standing of their own. Quinn would have had nothing to gain from it though, as she was just as important and respected as me; probably more so.

Thinking back on all the times that Quinn had extended her hand in an offer of friendship made me feel guilty, recalling how I practically laughed in her face and kept her away from me. It's true that I respected her, but I never did anything to change that respect to something more, even when she kept presenting the opportunities.

I heard some movement and rustling of bags, then some murmuring. Looking around the corner I saw Brittany and Quinn in the middle of the bed, just pulling out of a hug. Walking into the room, I knocked my hand against the door on purpose, so they knew that I was there and made my way over to the bed.

"Hi!" Brittany chirped, sitting back against the bed and smiling at me.

"Hey," I smiled, perching back in my space on the bed, and shot my smile at Quinn as well. I wanted to try and make up for all of the times that I ignored her and there was no better time than the present.

Quinn looked a little surprised, but smiled back and murmured a "hey," in return.

"So, what are we doing now?" I asked, looking between Brittany and Quinn.

"What do you want to do?" Brittany asked

"It's your house," Quinn shrugged.

"And you're the guests."

I looked around, and my eyes fell on her DVD collection. "How about a film?"

Brittany bobbed her head, and looked at Quinn for an answer. "Uh, sure." Brittany raised an eyebrow at her and smiled slightly. "What?" She asked self-consciously.

I piped in "choose the film." She shook her head, and I told her "me and Brittany have watched films here before, and had a chance to choose, so now you get to."

She stood up and walked over to the DVDs, while Brittany and I cleared the bed of the food, sweeping it onto the floor either side, and just leaving a few things out for us to eat when we were watching the movie.

"Is there a particular genre you want? Or any you definitely don't want to watch?"

I looked at Brittany and she shook her head, so I said "nope," and sat back against the headboard, next to Brittany.

Quinn chose the movie she wanted, so Brittany stood up and set it all up, turning the light off and getting in the middle of the bed, so Quinn was sat on her left, and me on her right.

Quinn had chosen a romantic comedy, and it was one that none of us had seen before, so we were laughing through all of it. We commented on things now and then, but spent most of the movie in silence, other than the laughter. When it ended we just sat there, relaxing in the silence.

After a few minutes Brittany came to life and patted both of our legs gently, saying "come on, let's get ready for bed."

She jumped up and started clearing the food away, so with a groan I followed suit nudging Quinn, who mumbled something. Looking to her, I realised that she was sleeping, and smiled at the position she was in; cuddling one of Brittany's stuffed toys.

"Britt, look," I nodded to Quinn, and she laughed lightly.

"We should probably wake her up. I hate when I don't clean my teeth before I got to bed – I feel all gross when I wake up."

I hummed my agreement, making my way to the other side of the bed, crouching down in front of her and whispering her name. I had briefly considered the idea of throwing some water on her, or doing something equally annoying to wake her up, but then remembered that I wanted to be nicer to her.

She didn't respond, so I lightly shook her shoulder, and she scrunched her face up, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "Quinn, get up," I whispered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

She sat up, and I told her "we're getting ready for bed now, we thought that you'd want to clean your teeth and change your clothes."

She nodded and murmured a barely unintelligible "thanks," getting up from the bed and sluggishly walking to the bathroom, grabbing her bag on the way.

Collecting the sweets on the floor by me, I stood up "do you want these back downstairs?"

She nodded and picked up the food next to her, then walked out the door to the kitchen, with me following her. All of the lights were off, so we were careful not to make any noise and bump into anything.

Putting the food from her arms back in the right places, Brittany asked me "you didn't mind about Quinn staying tonight as well, did you?"

I shook my head, as I did the same. "No. She's cool and I want to get to know her better. You gave me the push I needed," I smiled.

She nodded, and said nothing else as she walked back upstairs when I was finished cleaning it all up. Quinn appeared from behind me on the stairs, I jumped before I realised who she was.

A burst of laughter escaped her lips before she could control it and she clasped a hand to her mouth, stopping any more noise from escaping. I scowled at her, but didn't say anything as I followed Brittany into her room and grabbed my clothes, quickly leaving again to get ready for bed.

When I returned to the room, Brittany brushed past me, already changed, so presumably she just wanted to use the bathroom. I folded my clothes up, and placed them in my bag, turning to face Quinn, who was looking at the bed.

"I didn't bring a sleeping bag or anything," she frowned.

"Neither did I."

"Maybe Brittany has a spare one."

"Yeah," I nodded.

Brittany walked into the room then and saw us looking at the bed. "What's up?"

"We forgot our sleeping bags – where are we going to sleep?" I asked.

"In the bed," she said, in a 'duh' tone.

"But there's three of us."

"So? We'll fit there; it's big enough."

I looked at Quinn, and she raised an eyebrow, looking a little worried. Brittany turned the light off and crawled into the middle of the bed, saying "I don't have anywhere else for you to sleep, sorry, unless you want the floor." She shrugged and looked genuinely apologetic.

Sighing, I walked over to the side I was sat on earlier and got under the covers, looking at Quinn to see her do the same thing.

Brittany smiled at both of us and let out a "night," as she laid back against the pillows.

Quinn and I answered at the same time, turning around, I closed my eyes, allowing sleep to overtake me.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong>Please review and let me know what you think! :)

I have tumblr at ImagineBrittana if you want to check it out :)


	11. Chapter 11

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Frogfeather_ and _Rosetoast _for the reviews, and to _elfypelfy_ for the messages :)  
>Thanks to my Beta <em>Veiledgreyskies<em> :)  
>Here's the longest chapter yet.<p>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 11<span>

Shifting my head, I wrinkled my nose against whatever was ticking me, but couldn't get away from it. I cracked my eyes open and found blonde hair to be the source of the tickling, also obscuring my vision. Brushing the hair away, I laid my head back down, then noticed that I was partially lying on top of Brittany; my head on her shoulder, and leg thrown over her waist.

The bed shifted, and I remembered that Quinn was in the room – bed even – with us, I and shot up, looking over at her worriedly. She was asleep, with her back facing us, still clutching the toy that she had been cuddling at the beginning of the night.

I breathed a sigh of relief and looked back to Brittany as her hand curled around my hip and tugged me closer to her. She was still asleep and her brow was furrowed, but when I let her guide me back against her it smoothed out and her lips curled a little.

I stayed pressed against her side, with her arm wrapped around me for a few more minutes, but I couldn't relax knowing that Quinn could turn over at any moment and see us.

Slowly, I moved out of Brittany's grasp and placed another toy in her arms – a large unicorn I found on the floor by the bed. Standing up, I gathered my clothes and walked out to the bathroom.

It was 9 a.m. and Brittany's parents were awake and busy downstairs.

Passing the living room, Brittany's mom called out to me "hi, Santana. Did you sleep well?"

I nodded "yes, thank you. Did you? We weren't too loud, were we?"

"I didn't hear a thing," she smiled. "I take it you all had a good time, then?"

"Yeah, it was great. Thanks for having me around."

"No problem, Santana. You're welcome round anytime you want – how many times do I have to tell you that?" she laughed.

I laughed but shrugged, embarrassed, as she said "go get ready; I expect you want to get back up to the girls. Are they up yet? And you can have a shower if you want; there are plenty of towels and everything for you to use."

"Nope, just me," I grinned.

"Well, if you come to the kitchen when you're done, I can cook you some breakfast if you want?"

I thought about it, wondering if it would be more awkward to wait in Brittany's room for her and Quinn to wake up, or have breakfast with her mom. "That would be great, thank you. But you don't have to go to all that trouble for me."

"Nonsense. I need to cook Emily and I something anyway – I'm waking her up now."

I nodded a thanks to her, then scurried to the bathroom, taking a quick shower and washing my hair while I was there.

When I was finished, I ran my stuff back up to Brittany's room, where her and Quinn were still deeply asleep, then made my way to the kitchen, smiling at Emily.

"Santana!" she exclaimed, jumping off her stool and hugging me.

I laughed and smiled as her mom scolded her for 'attacking' me. "That's alright, I missed Emily yesterday."

I moved over to the stool next to the one Emily was sat on, with a glass of orange juice already set out for me. Emily followed me, and turned on her stool to face me again, once she was settled.

"What were you doing yesterday, with Britt and the other girl?" She asked curiously, resting her head against her hand and staring at me.

"Quinn? Uhh I don't know," I shrugged. "We talked and watched films."

She nodded "why was she here anyway?"

"Because Brittany invited her to sleep over."

"But why?"

I looked at her mom, unsure of how to answer, and she smiled at me, dishing out some omelette onto our plates and saying "stop asking Santana questions and let her eat her breakfast in peace."

Emily huffed, but quickly cut into her food, shoving it in her mouth, then fanning it rapidly, releasing a noise of pain.

"Don' ee' it…hot," she looked at me, with her mouth wide open, still fanning it, and her eyes watering.

I laughed "a little eager to eat it there?"

She gulped down the food and let out a strangled "yeah," cutting up the omelette, and blowing on a piece. I watched her, and smiled widely as she continued blowing on it, turning the fork around to get it from every angle.

"I think it's cool enough now," I smiled, and she blushed before nodding and eating it.

Looking away from her I noticed her mom looking at us, smiling fondly, so I quickly looked down at my plate and started eating, moaning in appreciation and saying "this is amazing, Mrs…Susan. Thank you!" The first time I had met her parents I had called them Mr. and Mrs. Pierce, but was swiftly corrected and told that they hated being formal.

I felt uncomfortable calling them by their first names in the beginning, as I had always been taught to respect adults, and always address them by their surnames, but they quickly made me feel comfortable. I still forgot every now and then, but most of the time I managed to call them by their names, and they smiled every time, like they knew how difficult it was for me.

"It's just an omelette, but thank you," she smiled.

I nodded and continued eating, appreciating the flavour in every bite.

Soon enough, we were all finished and I washed the dishes, telling Susan when she complained about it that it was only fair I cleaned because she cooked. She thanked me and shooed Emily upstairs when she stared asking me more questions, telling her that she had to get ready to go out.

Finishing the dishes, I wiped my hands and walked up stairs, opening Brittany's door and seeing Brittany stir slightly at the creaking. I shut the door as quietly as I could and watched as Brittany squeezed the toy in her arms, then frowned and spread her arm out to where I was sleeping before, sweeping it back and forth and frowning when she felt nothing.

I giggled and she turned her head in my direction and opened her eyes, smiling sleepily and asking "where did you go?"

I walked over to the bed and sat where I was before, talking quietly "I woke up and you and Quinn were sleeping, so I went and got ready, then had breakfast with your mom and sister."

"Ugh, you didn't have to do that; I bet Em asked you loads of questions."

I nodded, but told her "she's cute though, I didn't mind."

Rubbing her eyes she hummed, and then mumbled "what time is it?"

I looked at the clock and said "ten thirty," smiling at the way her eyes widened and she sat up and looked around me, checking the clock herself. "It's not that late; I've been up way later than this before."

"But I have people over. What time did you get up?"

"Nine," I smiled.

"You should have waked me up - I wouldn't have minded."

"Nah, we went to bed late anyway, I just don't sleep much. Your family is cool anyway, I didn't mind. Plus, your mom makes a killer omelette."

She laughed "that she does."

Quinn groaned then and turned her head to face us, slurring "what are we talking about?"

"Food," I said, right as her stomach rumbled.

Quinn snorted, quickly covering her mouth and saying "oh god, I didn't just snort…ignore that, please."

"Hungry, Quinn?" I teased, smiling broadly.

"Shu'up," she grabbed the pillow Brittany had been using and flung it at my face, making me fall back off the bed in my avoidance of being hit by it.

"I think I would have preferred to be hit with that," I groaned, rubbing my tailbone.

Brittany laughed, and Quinn sat up, poking her head over the edge of the bed to look at me. "Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly, moving away from me as if she thought I would hit her. Which I probably would have, if it had of happened a couple of weeks ago.

I hummed as Brittany extended her hand to me and pulled me up, shoving me back to the bed beside her and falling down next to me.

* * *

><p>I was sat in Breadstix, opposite Brittany who had her menu spread out on the table in front of her, and was looking at it intently. Quinn had left before lunch, as she had some family stuff she had to go home for, but that just left time for me and Brittany to get lunch and go shopping.<p>

Brittany still hadn't been to many places in town yet, and hadn't been here before, so I insisted that we go straight away, unable to believe that she had never experienced the deliciousness of my favourite restaurant.

I was nibbling on a breadstick as I watched her look through the menu, not needing to look myself considering the many times I had frequented it before, and grinned at the way she reacted to the different things she read.

Looking up, she smiled bashfully when she saw me watching her and asked "do you know what you're getting?"

I nodded "lasagne. What about you?"

"The spaghetti and meatballs looks good. Is there anything you recommend though?"

"They're nice," I smiled and nodded.

She closed her menu and smiled her thanks, sitting back in her seat and grinning at me.

"What?"

"You really like this place, don't you?" She asked.

"Well yeah, we get free breadsticks!"

"Free breadsticks that you've already eaten," she smiled, her eyes sparkling.

I looked down, and saw that I had eaten them all while I was watching Brittany, not even leaving one for her to try. "Sorry," I shrugged self-consciously, "but that's alright, because they're legally obligated to give us as many breadsticks as they want. I'll get some more."

"Oh no, that's alright, I don't mind," she smiled, but my hand was already in the air, beckoning a waiter over.

"We're ready to order, and want a refill of breadsticks while we wait for our food." I shoved the container at him and he took it, but then placed it on the edge of the table, pulling out a notepad and pen, ready to jot down our orders.

"I'll have a lasagne with a glass of water. Brittany?"

"Um, the spaghetti and meatballs with a glass of lemonade, please." She smiled sweetly at him, and he grinned, looking up at her as he wrote.

He turned to leave, but I coughed and grabbed the container, thrusting it at him as I said "Breadsticks." He blushed, but quickly took it from my hands and hurried away, glancing over his shoulder when he was a safe distance away.

"That was mean," Brittany frowned.

"What? No it wasn't. That's his job; he should learn how to do it properly, I was just helping him."

"By being mean?"

"Well, he could get a worse customer than me," I frowned, starting to feel guilty. I had always treated the staff like that – worse, if the truth be told – but Brittany came around and made me rethink everything, with just one comment.

Brittany tilted her head to the side "I guess, but-" her phone started playing, signalling a message, and she stopped talking and pulled it out of her bag, flipping it open and furrowing her brow.

The man returned with the breadsticks and placed them on the table, but I ignored him and kept my eyes on Brittany.

I let her read through the text, and when I saw her clicking buttons I asked "everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just got a few texts about a party tonight. It's at some guy's house, I don't know the name. Do you want to go?"

I frowned, wondering why I didn't get any texts, but asked "do _you_ want to go?"

"It'd be cool, I guess. I don't know many people other than the Cheerios and Glee Club."

I was going to say that that was enough people, and that the majority of the school were worth ignoring anyway, when my phone chimed and I pulled it out to see a text. Quinn. Of course, the one person telling me about the party tonight was Quinn. I guess it was true when they said that fear doesn't breed friends or respect.

I sighed and looked up to Brittany, to see her lifting up a breadstick and taking a bite. She moaned and closed her eyes briefly "that's so nice; I thought you were exaggerating, but this has to be the best thing I've tasted."

"Just wait til you taste the food," I grinned. "Anyway," I shrugged "it's at Karofsky's house, which isn't too bad. We can go, but we still have shopping to do first. It starts at 7:30, so we can turn up about 8:30. Sound good?"

"Why so late?"

"It's fashionably late," I grinned. "The first hour of a party usually sucks anyway, so it's best to turn up when it's in full swing."

She nodded, seemingly happy with the plans, and our food arrived, halting the conversation for the moment.

We ate quietly, commenting on how nice the food was, and sharing bites of our own meals. We both finished and split the bill; Brittany had tried to pay, telling me that it was only fair as I had bought the last meal, but I refused, so we settled halfway.

We got in the car and I started driving to the shopping centre, telling Brittany that I needed to buy some clothes for the party, but forgoing the fact that I was also going to get her a new bike while we were there.

We got to the shopping centre and she dragged me over to a shop just through the doors, squealing "this is my favourite shop!"

I laughed and let her pull me around the store, shoving clothes in my arms as she went. Looking around, she determined that she had given me everything she liked and turned me around, pushing me into the changing rooms.

"Try all of that on. Look, this is a nice outfit," she held up a pair of dark skinny jeans and purple shirt, shoving them at me while taking the rest of the clothes out of my arms.

I walked into a cubicle, eyeing her as she sat on a seat next to the door and beamed at me, jumping up and down as she did so.

After putting on the outfit I looked in the mirror and admitted to myself that Brittany had a great fashion sense; she knew what would look good on me, and how to pair it all. I stepped out of the door and gestured down my body, showing her what it looked like.

Cocking her head to the side, she twirled her finger around and I turned in a slow circle, looking in the mirror and seeing her eyes on my ass.

"Like what you see?" I grinned, and she snapped her eyes up to mine, blushing slightly as I faced her again.

She nodded and cleared her throat before speaking "yes, very much so. I think you should turn around one more time though," she grinned.

I inclined my head slightly and completed another full turn, watching as her eyes raked over all me this time. She nodded and handed me over another outfit, which I dutifully took and tried on; marvelling at just how well she knew what would look good.

She passed me a few more outfits; each of them just as nice, and all gaining similar reactions from her, until I was finished and we looked through the pile. We decided on the first outfit and one more, paying for them and then looking around the mall.

"Do you need to get anything?" I asked Brittany as we window shopped.

She shook her head "I've got a few nice outfits at home. You need any shoes or accessories?"

"Shoes," I hummed. "Do you not want to go in any other shops then?"

"I'm not really looking for anything, but I don't mind going wherever you want to."

"Great," I nodded, "I've got one more shop to go in, after my shoes."

I saw some boots in a window then, and entered the shop, quickly trying them on and buying them at Brittany's insistence. Exiting the shop, I turned and made my way to the bicycle shop, knowing where to go as I had looked at the map before going there.

When Brittany saw us approaching it she asked "why are you going there?"

I held the door open and let her step in before me, pulling the door shut behind me as I said "I'm buying a bike. You probably know more about them than me, so I expect your help."

"Why get a bike when you already have a car?"

"Just in case," I smiled, thinking that I would still give Brittany lifts, even when she could use to bike to go places.

She nodded and we browsed the shop. I was paying close attention to her reactions to the different bikes we saw, and a few times she pointed one out to me, saying how cool it was.

Once we had been around the whole shop we stood still and I asked her "what do you think?"

"There were some good ones here. What kind would you like?"

"I really don't know. Which one would you choose, if it was up to you?"

She shrugged, but walked over to one of the bikes I noticed her look at for a little longer than the others. "This one is really good; it's a good make, and looks really nice as well."

I nodded and smiled at her "great, I'll get that one then."

"Are you sure?" She seemed concerned, "because you probably shouldn't trust my opinion on this, it's not like I know that much. The people working here would be much more help."

"I trust you."

She looked at me and smiled, nodding slightly as she turned away and let out a little "okay."

We walked up to the counter and I told the person which bike I wanted. Brittany walked off and started looking at the accessories, so when he asked me where it should be delivered, I told him Brittany's house. I had to pay more for delivery, but I figured that it would be easier and a surprise for her.

I would try to be at her house when it's delivered, because I had a feeling that she would need to hear my reasoning for buying it for her, before she went crazy. I didn't want her to think that it was charity, because it wasn't, so I knew that that was probably the best thing to do.

I finished paying and walked over to Brittany, smiling at her as I stood next to her. "Ready to go?"

"Yep." She grabbed one of my bags off of me, and at my questioning look she said "I felt weird letting you carry around everything, even if it's not my stuff. You don't mind, do you?"

"Nah, it's alright," I smiled.

We walked in silence for a while, occasionally bumping our hips and shoulders into each other. I don't know about Brittany, but I was doing it on purpose, wanting contact no matter how small.

We reached the car and I threw my bags on the backseat, letting Brittany do the same and then got in the car, buckling up and driving away.

I'd been driving for a few minutes when I asked "So, this will be your first party in Lima, right?" She nodded, "are you looking forward to it?"

"Yeah, I mean, the girls on the Cheerios have been really nice and welcoming, so it'll be nice to hang out with them for a bit. And if it's anything like the parties we had back home, it'll be amazing," she grinned at me, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"What were the parties back home like?"

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

"But you're not from Vegas," I was practically whining, but couldn't find it in me to care.

"Same rules apply though." I huffed, but didn't say anything, and she bit her lip before saying "maybe you'll see tonight, if we're lucky."

"Yeah?" I grinned, excited to see another side of Brittany that had apparently stayed hidden up until now.

She chuckled at the enthusiasm I was unable to hide and hummed lightly, looking at me before quickly facing the front again, grinning wickedly.

We spent the rest of the drive listening to music and getting excited for the party, Brittany dancing in the seat and singing along to the songs playing on the radio. As soon as I stopped the car in her driveway she sprang out of the car and pulled the bags from the backseat, managing to walk around and open my door for me just as I pulled the keys out.

She smiled down at me, so I smiled back and stepped out of the car, shutting the door carefully behind me and following Brittany up to the porch and into the house. We kicked our shoes off by the door and walked upstairs, dumping my bags on her bed and sitting down.

"D'you want to start getting ready now?" I asked, looking at my watch.

She nodded, but said "let's just rest a little before that though."

I let my back fall to the bed from where I was sitting and stared up at the ceiling, feeling the weight of Brittany sink in next to me.

Turning my head to rest on the side, I smiled at her "tired?"

"My feet and back ache," she laughed.

"Some common signs of pregnancy there; got anything to tell me?" I winked.

A laugh burst from her lips, and she shook her head "nu-uh."

"That's good to know," I smirked. "I'll start getting ready now, but you can rest for a bit if you want."

I got off the bed and stretched my arms over my head. Brittany's eyes followed the movement and lingered on the strip of skin that was showing between my shirt and jeans. "No, I better get ready now as well."

I looked through the bags and grabbed the first outfit I had worn in the shop, knowing that Brittany liked it and that it makes my ass look great. Not that I need any help in that department.

Brittany was looking for clothes to wear, so I sat down at her vanity and cleaned my face before putting my makeup on. I was just applying my eyeliner when I saw movement in the mirror behind me and looked to find Brittany changing her clothes.

Her back was facing me but I still couldn't tear my eyes away from her, the dimples on her lower back attracting most of my attention. She bent down to pull off her jeans, and was left in a lacy black underwear set. I swallowed loudly, knowing I should look away, but physically unable to.

She took a few steps to the bed where her clothes were laid out, and I finally managed to tear my eyes away. I looked back at myself in the mirror and noticed my eyeliner was in a jagged line across my eyelid, so quickly swore under my breath and wiped it away, starting again. I saw Brittany turn slightly to look at me and looked up at her, catching her eye and the wink and smirk she sent me. I narrowed my eyes, but when I saw her look me up and down – as much as she could, considering I was sat in a seat and she was looking in the mirror – I realised that she had caught me staring, and was doing that on purpose. Two could play at that game.

My makeup was finished in no time, so I swept up my stuff and put it in my bag, letting Brittany sit down as she put in her earrings. She was wearing a white and black striped vest with a black skinny tie and leather hot pants, a black hat placed on the bed and boots on the floor. For an outfit that looked so simple, it sure as hell looked hot on her, and I had a hard time controlling my reaction when she brushed past me.

She sat down at the mirror and I could see her smirking at me, so I quickly stepped over to the bed and grabbed my clothes, figuring if she could get dressed in the same room as me, then so could I.

I stripped out of my clothes, slightly hesitantly until I looked back at Brittany and saw her staring at me intently. I made sure to add a slight sway to my hips, and let my movements glide together, becoming more confident with how I seemed to be affecting her.

I hummed a song under my breath and shimmied in spot for a few seconds before wiggling into my skinny jeans and pulling my top over my head. I turned to face Brittany and saw her hair whipping around, from where she had turned so fast.

I smirked, but didn't say anything as I sat on the bed and started on my hair. Brittany's cheeks looked flushed as she started on her makeup, having been too preoccupied with watching me before to do so.

We were both ready quickly after that and left the house, starting the walk. I could've driven, but wanted to be able to drink at my first party with Brittany. I just wouldn't drink too much and become the weepy drunk that most people know I am.

We walked slowly, and when we were a block away we could hear the subtle hints of a party, and see loads of cars parked on the streets. The music steadily increased in volume as we got closer, and by the time we got to the house I just wanted to grab a drink to drown out the sound.

I entered the house with Brittany close behind me and was assaulted by the familiar smell of alcohol and sweat. I fought through the people in the hallway and pushed into the kitchen, pouring myself and Brittany a drink, looking to her for confirmation before I did so.

She took a sip and grinned at me, stepping really close to me and breathing into my ear heavily as she said "this is amazing; I didn't know you were so good at mixing drinks."

"Well, there are a lot of things I'm good at," I gulped, feeling her hair tickle me as she pulled away, just enough to see my face.

"I bet," she winked as she pulled away completely, turning away slightly and surveying the mass of writhing bodies we could see in the living room.

"So," I nudged her "is this anything like your parties back home?"

"We'll have to see what it's like once I have a few drinks in me," she grinned, downing the rest of her drink and grabbing my hand. "Come dance with me!"

I shook my head and held my cup up in my hand, but she took it off me and put it next to hers, grabbing my other hand and pulling me towards the makeshift dance floor.

"What are you scared of; that I'm going to beat you?"

"No one can beat me," I laughed and stopped resisting.

"We'll see." She led me to the middle of the dance floor and started dancing opposite me, and I copied her moves, grinning as she slowly made them harder to do. I tried to copy a ridiculously hard one and failed, tripping over my feet and falling into her. She caught me around the waist and held me to her body, sticking her tongue out at me when I straightened up.

I laughed and shook my head at her playfully. The song changed and she quickly grabbed my hands and placed them on her hips, spinning around so her back was against my front, and threw her hands around my neck.

I gulped and suddenly felt ten degrees hotter as she started moving against me; all I could do was tighten my grip on her.

She tugged on my neck and tilted her head up and to the side, and I thought she was going to try to kiss me until she said "you need to move." Her hands untangled from the hair at the back of my neck and travelled down my sides to rest on my own hips, where she squeezed them before pulling them along with her.

I flushed, ashamed that she had reduced to forgetting how to dance and quickly took over myself, rolling into her ass and pulling her hands back up around my neck. I would've found it weird that the tallest person was in front, but she swiftly moved down my body once we had found a rhythm, dragging her hands along my front as she went.

Gulping, I pulled her up and spun us both around, reversing our roles as I was now in front. Tangling my hands in her hair, I tugged lightly before trailing them down her arms to her hands, dragging them up my legs to my hips.

I rolled into her hard and she reciprocated before I held my hands in the air and shimmied down her body until I was crouching, before I slowly brought myself back up again, moving roughly against her body as I leaned up to her ear and whispered "is this more like the parties back home?"

I felt her nod against me "almost. Not quite there yet, though. Something else needs to happen first."

"No clues on what?"

"If you get me a drink, there very well may be."

I laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her back to the kitchen and pouring ourselves two shots of whiskey and a mixed vodka drink each. I counted to three and we downed the shots and chased them with our drinks, both grimacing at the taste.

We stayed standing in the kitchen for a while, and I pointed out some people and told Brittany about them and their habits at parties, as well as just gossiping and talking about her family. We'd been there for a while when Brittany's name was called out, and one of the cheerleaders entered the kitchen.

"There you are, Britt! We've been waiting for you, come on!" The girl completely ignored me and tried to drag Brittany away, but she stayed in her place.

"Hang on a minute, T. You coming, Santana?"

"No, I'm alright here, thanks. You can go though," I smiled at her.

"I don't want to leave you by yourself."

"I'm fine, I've been by myself all the other times I've been to these." Seeing her sad I look and the Cheerio's growing interest, I quickly added "besides, I'll probably go find Quinn in a minute anyway."

"You sure?" She asked, ignoring the insistent tugging of the girl on her arm.

I nodded and she pulled me into a tight hug with one arm, keeping her drink away from me. I barely had the time to hug back before she was snatched away and had disappeared out of sight.

I sighed and walked around for a bit, making and drinking countless drinks and watching everyone. I saw Brittany stood in a corner with the other girls on the squad laughing and having a good time, so I leant against the wall where I was and kept watch. I didn't want to seem like a creepy stalker, but I knew as well as anyone what these parties could get like, and didn't want Brittany to get into any trouble. While the girls seemed to like her at the moment, I couldn't be sure they would look after her if it came down to it.

I was stood there for a while and watched as they kept drinking and plying each other with shots. Finally, I got tired of the noise and wandered outside, figuring I could look for Quinn while I was there.

I stepped through the back door and breathed in a lung full of fresh air, appreciating the clean smell that came with it. I wandered down the garden and saw Quinn sitting on a swinging bench.

I plonked down in the seat next to her, feeling the alcohol starting to affect me. "Hey. What are you doing out here?"

"I couldn't think in there, I just wanted some peace," she told me as she continued staring forward.

I looked around at the many couples making out, and the group of guys sat at a table drinking and shouting. "Yeah, it's real peaceful out here," I mumbled.

She heaved a sigh, but didn't say anything else. "What's wrong? Did Puck do something? I'd be happy to kick his ass if he did." While I didn't like Puck – especially now I knew that he was involved with my brother and his crimes – I knew that Quinn did, and so I wanted to be as supportive as I could. Plus, it's not like I was against showing Puck his place anyway.

"No, he's fine. He's probably in a bedroom as we speak, and I really couldn't care less anymore." It was silent for a couple of seconds as I nodded and sat back more comfortably against the seat, trying not to rock it too much as I moved. I didn't want to be sick over her.

She turned to face me "why are you suddenly being nice to me?"

I was immediately defensive, even though I knew that she didn't mean it in any other way than to be curious. "Don't you want me to? Just say, and I'll be a bitch again, no problem."

"Don't get all touchy about it; if you can ask me questions, then I can do the same."

I sighed and relented, knowing that she was right, and that I wanted to try to be nicer to her. "I always felt bad for how I just ignored you when you were nothing but kind to me. I figured it's better late than never. But if you don't agree then whatever, I don't care. I just thought you needed more allies, is all."

"Me need allies; have you seen yourself?" she laughed, but not unkindly. "Thanks though, I'd love to." She added.

"To what?"

"Be your friend," she grinned "no matter how much you'd like to disagree, I know Santana speak, and I know that's what you meant."

I shrugged but said nothing else. We watched the people in that garden for a bit until I turned to face her and slowly asked "so what's wrong with you then?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." She turned to face me and leant against the arm of the chair.

"Of course it matters, if it's got you this upset."

"It's stupid," she mumbled. "It's just…lonely, you know? Hell, you must know better than anyone; you have fewer friends than me."

"Oh, thanks. I try to help, and you-" I stood up to leave, but she grabbed my arm and pulled be back down.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. It's just lonely at the top, and you're at the highest point there is. I guess you'd kind of expect to be lonely at school, but at home?"

I nodded, understanding what Quinn meant, but not knowing what to say to make it better. "Well…last night was fun, right? If it gets too lonely, we could all have a sleepover again, no problem."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Mmm, I better get back inside now, and see what Brittany's doing."

"I'll come with you."

We both stood, and I grabbed onto Quinn for balance as I almost pitched forward. I stood still for a little while before opening my eyes that had closed along the way and started to the house. Quinn fell back just behind me as I opened the door and held it open for her, continuing in through the kitchen.

I placed my empty cup on the counter and walked in the living room, looking to where I had last seen Brittany. She wasn't there and I scanned the room, panicking when I couldn't see her.

Hearing cheers from the room next to it I walked to the doorway and narrowed my eyes at the scene in front of me. Brittany was dancing on a table in the middle of the room with her shirt off, surrounded by a large crowd of guys, her lacy black bra and toned stomach on full display.

I took a step forward when one of the jocks, some guy I recognised from the football team, jumped up onto the table with her and grabbed her waist, pulling her into his chest roughly. She giggled as she steadied herself against him and he quickly leaned down and closed the distance, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> So, it's my birthday tomorrow (Sunday, the same day as Chris Colfer's!) – a review would be the best present ever ;) But yeah, please let me know what you thought of it, and if there's anything you'd like to see :)

I'm on Tumblr at imaginebrittana if you have it and want to follow me.


	12. Chapter 12

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**Fun fact:** I chose Rico and Enzo's names for the meanings behind them. Enzo means 'rules his household' in Spanish and 'conquering' in Italian and Ricardo/Rico means 'brave ruler' in Spanish, and can be translated to 'noble, rich'. Think of that what you may :P

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Alex Ryzlin Gold_, _Stoic Last Stand_, _Cyan55_, _gaga4brittana_, _Frogfeather_, _Thundering Ice_, _knowthescore_, _Rosetoast,_ _BiaSilveira_ and _Imbapie_ for the reviews! And to _elfypelfy_ and _brittanamorethanlife_ for the messages. :)  
>And a gigantic thanks to <em>veiledgreyskies<em> for being the best Beta ever! :)

Previously: 

Brittany was dancing on a table in the middle of the room with her shirt off, surrounded by a large crowd of guys, her lacy black bra and toned stomach on full display.

I took a step forward when one of the jocks, some guy I recognised from the football team, jumped up onto the table with her and grabbed her waist, pulling her into his chest roughly. She giggled as she steadied herself against him and he quickly leaned down and closed the distance, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 12<span>

Time seemed to have stopped for a second, all I could see was the way their mouths were moulded together; the way his hands gripped her hips possessively; the way she fell into him and the kiss. I stumbled and leant against the door, blinking rapidly until I could hear and see again, the noise rushing back to me in a cacophony of screams and cheers.

I glanced back up to the table and saw her hands on his chest, trying to push him away, her head twisting from side to side. One of his hands rose from her hip to the back of her head and the other to the small of her back, pulling her into him more thoroughly.

Before I could think of what I was doing I was already at the table, having pushed everyone to the ground in my haste to get to her. I vaulted up onto the table and gripped the back of his shirt, pulling him away roughly and onto the ground, reaching out my free hand to steady Brittany as the momentum pulled her with him.

"Get your fucking hands off of her!" ripped from my throat as I followed him down, pushing him back a few more feet. I was vaguely aware of the music being turned off, and people moving around the room, but I focussed my attention on the jock in front of me.

He looked bewildered, but quickly became defensive as I pushed him again. ""What the fuck do you think you're doing? I was having a good time there!"

"Oh you were, were you?" I asked, shoving him again as he stepped closer to me, the alcohol fuelling my actions and words.

"I could've got laid tonight – that slut would've given it to me like nothing, and you-"

I cut off the rest of his sentence as I punched him in the face, his head snapping to the side violently as he stumbled back into the crowd surrounding us. He fell to the floor, and I saw a few of his friends grabbing his arms and pulling him up, pushing him in my direction.

I got ready to hit him again, but a soft hand fumbled with my arm and then lightly tugged on my shirt, a voice whispering in my ear "S-San…Please don'…figh'. I'm not - not worth i', and I don'…wan' you in trouble."

"Of course you're worth it, he shouldn't have touched you!" I exploded, looking at her briefly before I tried to pull out of her grasp and back to the boy who had a hand to his face, looking sorry for himself.

Brittany grabbed me around the waist and I felt another set of hands grab my arms. Brittany's grip felt more like I was holding her up, as she was leaning back and swaying side to side, but seemed to be helping a little in holding me back.

I struggled in their grips, and when I saw the boy and his friends start moving away, looking back at me cautiously, I tried even harder, shouting out insults at him. He looked between me and his friends, but they said something to him and he nodded before leaving through the front door without looking back.

"You have to be smart, Santana," Quinn's voice sounded by my ear. "I'm all for you beating him up, but not when there's a bunch of people around. You know what Coach Sue says, she won't be happy if her head cheerleader gets caught beating up some random guy."

I struggled for a few more seconds before sinking into myself, lowering my head to look at the floor. Brittany's arms squeezed around my waist briefly as she whispered a "thanksss," and pulled away.

I turned around to face them and saw Quinn supporting Brittany, who was leaning into her side, resting her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"You're drunk," I stated, not sure what to do at the moment. I looked around and saw her shirt discarded over a chair, so picked it up and then walked back to Brittany.

"Jusss' a bit," she giggled and stumbled into me.

I caught her and struggled her shirt on over her head, Quinn trying to hold her still as I did so. Once it was on, I pulled her arm over my shoulder and wound my arm around her waist as I turned to Quinn. "I should get her home. See you in school."

"Are you okay with her? I can help you both home if you want, you're kinda drunk as well."

"I'm alright, that sobered me a bit," I nodded and straightened my face as she studied me for a few seconds before nodding. I still felt drunk, and knew that there was a risk of turning into a sobbing mess, but I didn't want Quinn to see it, and knew that I'd be able to get home anyway.

I stumbled to the door as Quinn opened it for us, saying bye as we walked past her. Brittany mumbled a reply, but I didn't say anything, focussing as hard as I could on not falling down the steps, ultimately proving myself wrong. Even without being drunk, the weight and lack of balance on Brittany's part would've been hard enough to walk with.

We walked home in silence mostly. I kept checking on Brittany to see that she was okay, and reminded her every now and then to stand up a little straighter and try to walk, but we didn't communicate for the most part.

When we got to her house, she fumbled with her key and tried to put it in the lock, but kept missing it, so I gently took it from her hand and unlocked it myself. She stumbled through the door and I righted her against the wall, shutting the door and locking it before helping her up the stairs, shushing her every now and then when she was being particularly loud. I didn't know what her parents' views on drinking were, and didn't want to risk them coming out and seeing Brittany in the state she was in.

Entering her room, I led her to her bed and sat her down on it, pulling some pyjamas out of a drawer and walking over to her. "You need to get changed," I whispered, tugging her top over her head."

"It's not fair," she whimpered, looking up at me with tear filled eyes.

"What isn't?" I asked as I tried to pull her sleep shirt over her head.

She refused, batting it away as she replied "I don't understand. Why don't they know? They're all wrong, and – how can they not know?"

I put the shirt on the bed next to her and knelt down on the floor in front of her, with her legs on either side of me. "What do you mean?" I asked softly.

"You're so nice!" she almost shouted, and I shushed her with a smile, placing my finger against her lips. When she nodded and opened her lips against my finger a little, I pulled it away, but she grabbed it and held it tightly in one of her hands. "No one at school thinks you're nice, and it makes me really upset when I hear them talking about you. You're the nicest person I know – why don't you let other people see that?"

She was crying, and I gently wiped her cheeks with the hand I had spare as I thought of what to say. I let my hand fall to her thigh as I answered, "you're different…and I don't care what other people think. You shouldn't care either."

"But I do! I don't want to be their friends if they're horrible about you. They say you're a bitch, and you do things only for yourself, but you don't. You're my best friend, and if – if the Cheerios don't know that then I won't be their friend anymore." I wasn't surprised by what she said about the Cheerios – I knew that the school didn't like me, and I'd heard them talking about me many times before, but it hurt a bit when I heard the words from Brittany's mouth. Brittany's reaction to their words did surprise me though; I didn't expect her to be this upset by something everyone thought and was pretty much true.

"Didn't you have fun tonight? You were hanging out with them earlier," I stated.

"I did, until they started saying horrible things about you."

"Well just ignore when they say stuff about me if you want, I won't mind."

"But I will! I really like you, Santana, and I don't want to let them say things about you; just like I didn't want to kiss that guy."

My heart sped up a little when I heard her say that, and I couldn't help the hope that fluttered through my chest. "I'll make sure he knows not to touch you again," I told her, looking her in the eyes and squeezing her hand lightly.

"But other people might, and I don't want them to. I only wanna kiss you…really bad. I want everyone to know that I'm not interested in them." She stopped talking and looked up to the ceiling, sitting there in silence and letting her breaths even out a bit.

It was quiet for a few minutes before she started talking again, with her eyes closed, almost mumbling to herself. "She won't want to kiss me though. I want to so bad, and it hurts that she doesn't want to. I was going to tonight, but she must hate me now that he kissed me…now that I kissed someone else, like a slut. I hate it, I knew I should've done something before. I just want to kiss her so bad."

My hand suddenly felt hot on her thigh and I moved it away as I looked around the room unsurely. I knew that I liked her too, but she was drunk and I didn't want to take advantage of that. I didn't even know if she would remember this in the morning, and was unsure of how much she actually meant.

When I looked back to her, her face was inches away from my own and her eyes pierced into mine. She closed her eyes as she captured my lips in hers, grabbing the collar of my shirt and pulling me on top of her, onto the bed. We fell back, and I held my hands either side of her head, breathing heavily into her mouth in shock.

Before I could think about what I was doing I suddenly found myself on my back with her hovering over me, her hair creating a veil around us. She settled lightly on top of me and found my lips again, mouths and teeth colliding roughly and messily.

My hands found their way to her stomach and I ran them over her abs, remembering suddenly that she had no shirt on. Her leg nudged its way between mine, resting on the bed so close to me, I groaned at the feeling, her mouth swallowing the sound. Her lips moved down my neck as one of her hands began to pull my shirt up my stomach, her nails raking across my skin as she went.

I breathed in deeply, savouring the cool air, and the chance to breathe again. My hands ran up and down her back, ghosting over her bra strap, but doing nothing to remove the piece of clothing.

I arched up into her as she sucked on the spot just below my ear, and threw one of my arms above my head to grab the pillow beneath me, but it knocked against the lamp on her dresser which clattered to the floor.

Brittany giggled against my neck, but I gasped and shot up, suddenly realising what was happening. She fell into my lap, but stayed attached to me, resting her legs either side of my waist and settling into my lap. I gripped her shoulders and pushed back gently, murmuring "stop, Britt."

She groaned, but continued moving against me, shaking her head determinedly. "Britt, wait a minute." I pushed a little harder and leaned back, making sure she wouldn't be able to continue.

Her hair was tousled and cheeks flushed, eyes lidded as she looked at me, disappointment written all over her face. "What?"

"We need to stop," I breathed out, still catching my breath.

"No, we don't," she mumbled as she moved towards me again, but I grabbed her waist and lifted her off my lap, setting her next to me and crossing my legs as I faced her.

"We should go to sleep. Here's your clothes," I handed her her shirt and shorts and stood up off the bed, grabbing my pyjamas and walking to the door. "Are you alright to change, or do you need help?"

"I need help."

I nodded, but opened the door and said "I'm going to get ready for bed, then I'll help you, okay?"

She nodded and looked at the floor, so I closed the door behind me as I left, just in case she decided to get changed by herself. I got ready quickly, not wanting to leave Brittany on her own for too long, and knocked on her door gently when I reached it.

There was no answer, so I quietly opened and shut her door, smiling when I saw that she had fallen asleep upright against the headboard, without changing her clothes. I walked over to her and pulled her shirt over her head, and she stirred and mumbled, but didn't completely wake.

"I need to change your clothes, Britt," I whispered, unsure if she could hear me, but wanting to talk to her anyway.

She made a little noise of acknowledgement, but didn't make a move to help me, so I laid her down against the bed and took her shorts off. I picked up her pyjama bottoms and positioned her feet in the holes when she mumbled, almost unintelligibly "no, leave it."

I sighed and put them back in her drawer, pulling the covers over her and shutting her curtains before getting in the other side of the bed. I was exhausted from the long day and having to look after Brittany, so I quickly fell asleep, my mind filled with images of Brittany.

* * *

><p>I groaned, the light too bright as it hit my eyelids, even when I was sure the curtains were tightly drawn. I tried to roll over, but a weight was holding me down. I slowly cracked my eyes open to look.<p>

The light immediately burned my eyes and made the pounding in my head ten times worse, I looked to the window to see that the curtains were pulled back and the window open. I frowned, wondering when that happened. Blinking a few times, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, looking down to find the cause of the weight on my chest.

Brittany was sprawled over me, her head resting on my chest, just under my chin, she had one leg over my waist, whilst the other was tangled with my own. She was laying on my arm which was curled around her waist, my hand gently secured on her hip, her arm was around my waist with her hand almost gripping my ass.

I turned my head to look at the clock and saw that it was just past noon, probably explaining why the window was open. I panicked, figuring that Brittany's mom must have walked in and saw us in this position, I looked down at us to see the covers on her waist, immediately feeling relieved that it wasn't obvious she had nothing other than underwear on her bottom half.

Brittany shifted and rubbed her face against my chest as she slowly awoke, groaning loudly and gripping my ass. I jumped, and so did she, eyes open, then rapidly covering them when she saw the sun.

I sprang out of bed and shut the curtains again, walking over to her and asking "how do you feel?"

"Like crap. What happened last night?"

"You can't remember?" I asked, not sure whether that was a good or bad thing.

"No. I don't think so. I want food and pills before I try to remember."

I nodded and held my hand out to help her up, passing her some pyjama bottoms as I walked around the bed. She mumbled a thanks and I smiled at her as she walked out the room and downstairs slowly, looking incredibly hungover.

"Britt?" I whispered, before we got to the kitchen, where I could hear her mom humming.

"Yeah?" she paused walking and turned to me.

"What does your mom think about drinking?"

"Like parties? Why, are you scared?" she laughed, then quieted quickly, closing her eyes and holding a hand to her forehead. I shrugged when she looked at me and she said, more quietly this time "she's cool with it; I've been to enough for her to know that there's no point in trying to stop me."

I nodded and she continued into the kitchen, sitting at a stool where a glass of water and some pills were already waiting for us.

"Good morning, ladies. Have a nice night?" Susan asked loudly, and Brittany groaned, shushing her and shooting her a glare as she swallowed her tablets.

"It was great," I answered for Brittany, as she was too busy holding her head against the counter top. "Thanks for these," I nodded as I swallowed the pills.

"No problem; I know how Brittany gets," she laughed, I chuckled along with her, having to agree.

"Hey, I'm not that bad," she protested weakly, still not looking up.

"Sure, I poked her in the arm playfully. "Where's Emily?"

"She's gone to a friend's birthday party. She's being dropped back here in about an hour and a half, so you're both lucky that she's not here at the moment to cause you any more pain," she winked.

I laughed and nodded, watching as she walked into the living room. "D'you want anything to eat?" I asked Brittany, already standing up to make myself something.

"Hmmm. Some orange juice and a bacon sandwich, please, San."

"Sure, coming right up." I opened the fridge and took everything I needed out, putting the bacon in the pan, then pouring some orange juice in our glasses as I waited for it to cook.

It was ready quickly, and I set our plates in the spaces and started eating, Brittany moaning at the taste, "oh my god, that helps so much. Amazing."

I raised an eyebrow at her, and she looked at me before blushing and shrugging. I laughed lightly as I finished my food and cleaned up our dishes, content to let Brittany enjoy her hangover without doing anything. She could wait on me next time.

We walked back upstairs and sat on her bed, settling in next to each other against the headboard. We were sat in a comfortable silence until she started talking.

"I'm sorry for what I said last night, I was a mess. But," she took a breath before continuing, like she was gearing herself up to say it "I meant everything that I said."

I turned to face her, surprised she remembered, and she did the same. "You said a few different things," I said after a lengthy pause.

"You know what I mean." I shrugged, and she laughed out a huff before clarifying "I really like you, and would like to be able to kiss you when I want."

I bit my lip and looked away shyly, unsure of what to say. I had said to myself that I wouldn't do anything with Brittany, as it wouldn't work, but the way she made me feel made it too hard not to try. Hearing that she liked me, and wanted to try something with me, made me the happiest I could remember being, and I couldn't help but imagine how happy I would be when we're actually together.

"Well, I like you too." I looked back at her and saw a smile blooming across her face, easily reaching her eyes.

She hopped in place once, lightly, but then frowned and stopped moving "why did you push me away last night?"

"You were drunk."

"So?"

"So, I didn't want you to regret it."

"I'd never regret it with you," she looked me in the eyes as she said it, and I felt the truthfulness pouring through her words.

"You would if you couldn't remember what had happened," I shrugged.

"But I can remember, so that wouldn't have been a problem."

"Britt," I groaned. "I really care about you, and wouldn't want to ruin this – whatever this is – by rushing into things, or pushing you into things you're not ready for." I saw that she was about to protest, and quickly rushed on "I respect you, and want to show you that respect. If we're going to have something, I want it to be slow." I widened my eyes, surprised at what I had said; I hadn't planned on saying that or revealing what I wanted and felt, and was scared that I was too forward and she would react badly.

"Really?"

"Really," I smiled. She leaned in and kissed me slowly, and I savoured the feel of our lips moving languidly together.

She pulled away and grinned at me. "Okay then, in that case – Santana Lopez, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to my Motocross race this Friday?"

I grinned and nodded my head rapidly, picking her hand up and bringing it to my lips gently for a kiss. "I would love to accompany you, Miss Pierce."

She stared at me for a few seconds before giggling "you're such a goof!"

"You started it!" I protested, laughing along with her.

"Nu-uh," she mumbled as she pulled us both so we were lying down on the bed, and she was burrowing into my side.

We stayed there for a while, and I could feel myself dozing off, almost asleep when something landed heavily on top of me and Brittany and a little voice shouted out "Santana!"

"Emily!" I shouted back, trying not to let my groan through. Brittany didn't have the same concern, as she cursed her and shoved her away, mumbling about sleep before curling back up into my side.

"I think your sister is still sleepy," I stage whispered, grinning at her as I continued "we should tickle her to make her wake up."

That was all Emily needed to hear, as she pounced on her, screaming "tickle monster!" and attacked Brittany wherever she could.

"No!" Brittany groaned, opening her eyes and trying to sit up, but I grabbed both of her hands in one of mine and held them to the bed, letting the other trail down her side and tickle at her ribs.

She thrashed from side to side, trying to get us off, and Emily was laughing loudly as she did so. I noticed movement in the doorway and turned to see Mrs. Pierce looking in at us.

When she saw me looking she said "I wondered what all this noise was."

"Sorry," I apologised, loosening my hold on Brittany's wrists, "we'll stop now. We didn't mean to be so loud."

"Don't be silly, continue." She walked away, and I looked back at Emily to see her silently communicating with Brittany.

I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, when Brittany broke out of my hold and tackled me back to the bed, sitting on my hips as she told Emily to grab my feet, which she promptly did.

I narrowed my eyes up at her, being careful not to kick so hard, as to not hurt Emily and Brittany poked her tongue out at me, tickling under my arms. I was crying from laughter, and managed to struggle out "d'you have a fetish for armpits?" it becoming almost unintelligible as it went high pitched at the end, her tickling becoming more torturous.

"I yield, I yield!" I screamed after another minute, ribs aching from laughter, and lungs straining to catch a breath.

Brittany slowly got off me and sat next to me, looking just as out of breath as me, and Emily hopped up around the side of the bed, grinning from ear to ear.

"That was so much fun!"

I hummed and stayed reclining on the bed, catching my breath, and watching Brittany stretch. Emily let out a little yawn, and I looked to her to find her covering her mouth and looking really tired.

"Want a nap?" I asked her and she nodded, so I patted the bed next to me.

She crawled up and laid down on her front, nuzzling into the pillow and looking up at me sleepily. I ruffled her hair and told her "get to sleep quickly, before your mom comes up and tells you not to."

She nodded and closed her eyes, her breath regulating quickly, with little snores peaking through.

"You're really good with her," Brittany's soft voice came from my right, and I turned to look at her "more than me."

"You're good with her," I frowned.

"I get frustrated a lot, and don't play with her that often."

"Well maybe you can now," I smiled.

She nodded "I think I'd like that, but you'll have to help."

"Anything," I said, looking into her eyes as she copied Emily's position on the bed, just the opposite side of me.

She grabbed my hand tightly before letting it go and falling back into a light sleep and I soon followed, looking forward to spending more afternoons like this.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you thought :)

I'm on Tumblr at ImagineBrittana.


	13. Chapter 13

Summary: Santana can remember things that have never happened to her. Things that have happened to other people. Things like war. Or love. Or terror. How will she react when Brittany is in danger and she realises that everything she knew was a lie?

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Alex Ryzlin Gold_ for the review! And to _jbravo730_ for the message! :) I went from 10 reviews to 1 in the space of a chapter though, did I do something wrong? D:  
>Thanks to my beta <em>Veiledgreyskies<em>! Check out her story :)

I don't know anything about motocross/bikes/racing other than what I researched to write this. I know that some of it is bound to be wrong, because I couldn't find everything I wanted, so sorry.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 13<span>

The past week had passed quickly since last Sunday where I had spent all day hanging out with Brittany and her family. Most of my time was spent in school or at Brittany's house, still trying to stay as far away from home as possible. I had been forced to attend the weekly Monday dinner, in which I avoided eye contact and conversation with my brother as much as possible. I also went to a couple of the other dinners, mostly because I didn't want to leave Anna alone with my family, with no explanation of my whereabouts.

It was now Saturday, which signalled the day of my date with Brittany. Honestly, I was unsure whether or not it was an actual date; it sounded like it was when she had asked, but I was too scared to check in case she said no. I had a hard time choosing my outfit but I had decided on a pair of dark skinny jeans and my leather jacket, not wanting to stand out too much from the rest of the people at the race.

Slamming my car door shut, I looked around at all the people milling around me, wheeling dirt bikes and laughing with each other. I was meant to be meeting Brittany, but I had no idea where she would be, of course it also didn't help that I'd never been here before.

I arrived by myself. Brittany had to go to her cousin's house and borrow his bike, because she didn't have one of her own, then she'd ride here. I had offered to pick her up, telling her that I'd borrow my brother's truck but she declined, insisting that it was too much hassle and it was easier for her to get it herself.

Luckily, the race was hosted at the Allen County Fairground in Lima, so I didn't have a long drive.

I decided to follow the crowd, figuring they would lead me to the track and to Brittany. I was being jostled from every direction, which I found I didn't mind too much, as the excitement was electric and contagious. Little children were running around me, while parents called after them and couples walked hand in hand. There was a wide mix of people here, from bikers with unkempt beards to everyday families and their children, I enjoyed watching everyone as I walked.

Finally, I made it to the racetrack, looking around, Brittany finally caught my eye, she was talking to a guy dressed up in racing gear. I was making my way over to her when she noticed me coming. Smiling to the man, she turned away from him, and began walking over to me, meeting halfway.

"Hey, you made it," she grinned, looking down at the floor shyly before looking back up, catching my eyes.

"Of course. I promised I'd come, didn't I?"

"That's what she said," she laughed. "But yeah, I just didn't know if this would be your scene."

"My scene?" I chucked. "Well, I can't say I wasn't surprised when you told me that this is one of your hobbies. But it's cool, I love it already, and the racing hasn't even started yet."

"Really?"

I nodded and let out a hum. "So, who was that you were talking to?"

"Oh, one of the other racers. I've seen him at a few of my other comps, he's pretty cool. I'll introduce you to him later if you want, he's checking my bike over at the moment."

"And you trust him with that? Like, you don't think he'll tamper with it, just so he can beat you?"

"No, he'd never do that. He's too kind."

"Sure," I said, not sure if I actually believed her.

She grinned and was about to say something when an announcement rang out, saying that the race would be starting in five minutes.

"I better go and get ready then."

"Yeah, okay. Good luck, not that I think you'll need it. Kick some ass."

She laughed and shrugged, so I pulled her into a hug before watching her walk away, making note of the colours of her helmet and jacket – bright blue and pink stripes – and the number 8 taped above the 'Pierce' that was stitched into the back of her jacket.

I walked over to the start line, getting as close to the front as I could, shoving most of the people out of my way.

The racers started getting in their places, and I could see a few casting glances towards Brittany who was placed near the end, but I couldn't tell whether it was out of fear or malice.

The announcer listed the names of each rider, relaying to the crowd a little about their previous races and statistics. When he reached Brittany the crowd got a little louder as the man said that she was their first female racer in a while, that got a few whistles and laughs. I saw her shake it off and hold her thumbs up to someone further ahead, who I'm guessing was the guy she was talking to earlier, as the other racer reciprocated the action.

The countdown sounded and then they were off, the sound like thunder in my ears. She stayed near the back for a while, just dodging the bikes that seemed to be veering into her, but she was steadily climbing places.

Two of the bikes behind her crashed into each other, and went skidding across the track, hitting the fencing protecting the crowd from it. A few people screamed and jumped back, but the majority laughed and clapped, asking for more.

They were on the third and final lap, Brittany was almost neck and neck, placed in the middle just behind the two other riders who held first position. They both suddenly swerved towards her, forcing her to brake and fall back a little bit, but still only just behind them. They came up to a bend and Brittany accelerated, taking it wide and skidding past the other two, just taking the lead.

I screamed and jumped up and down, until I realised what I was doing and blushed, looking around self-consciously. I turned my attention back to the race and saw that it was just her and another racer really battling now, as the others had fallen back a little more.

He edged up on her right and I saw her glance at him before pulling over sharply, cutting him off. He kept trying to pass her, but she managed to stay ahead as the finish line came into view.

She was a few feet from it when he pulled up along her again, he then veered into her back wheel, causing her to lose control and spin over the finish line.

Her bike skidded along the ground for a few metres, and she tumbled off of it, rolling a few feet away. I screamed her name and vaulted over the fence, ignoring the hands trying to pull me back, as I rushed to her side I was intercepted by a big man in a security jacket who grabbed me and stopped me from getting any further.

I tried to look around him at Brittany, but he stopped me and pushed me face first into the fence. He growled into my ear "stop fighting, and I might let you go."

I stopped moving and he slowly let go of my wrists, letting me turn around to view him. I looked past him and saw her bike laying by the side of the track, but she wasn't near it.

Just then, I heard the announcer scream "and our winner, Brittany Pierce!"

Looking to my left, I saw her standing on the stage, her hand being held in the air by the man speaking, while her helmet was tucked into her side with her other arm. Her face was lit up, and slightly dirty from all of the dust, even though she had been wearing her helmet.

She waved to the audience, and accepted the trophy from him, but was looking around for something.

Her eyes caught mine and she raised a pale eyebrow in question, but I just shrugged my shoulders, embarrassed.

She said something to the man, and he nodded before announcing her name one more time and clapping as she ran off the stage towards me. I shrugged past the security guard who was in my way and turned to face her, grinning while holding my arms out.

She dropped her helmet and trophy on the ground, I was mildly concerned about it breaking, but all worry vanished as she launched herself at me and I caught her in my arms, wrapping them around her back, as her legs gripped my waist tightly.

My lips were engulfed in a warm heat, and it didn't take long for me to reciprocate the kiss, leaning my head in more and gripping the back of her thighs, pulling her into me. The kiss was fast – both in terms of movement and length – and when I pulled away I looked behind her, aware of the large crowd surrounding us. No one seemed to be starting at us, so I looked back to Brittany, her smile becoming infectious as it spread over my face as well.

She squealed into my ear and I hugged her to me, exclaiming "congrats, Britt! I knew you'd do it. You were incredible though, especially with all those guys trying to knock you off." I pulled back slightly and looked at her seriously, "why didn't you tell me these races are like that? You could have died, you don't know how worried I was! I jumped over that fence and that security guard stopped me." I turned and saw him watching us curiously, smirking slightly.

I noticed Brittany was still wrapped around my body, and I patted her on the back, letting her know to get down. She slid down me slowly and then took a step back, looking at the man behind me and grinning widely.

"Hey, Jimmy. What's up?"

"Hi B, nice race. I caught this one breaching the perimeter," he gestured towards me.

"Are you sure about that? I think she just fell over the fence when everyone got really excited and started pushing each other." She said, really seriously.

I looked at the fence in disbelief, wondering how slow she thought he was, but they started laughing and I looked back at them curiously.

"You know, it did look like she hurt herself. And they were awfully rowdy. I think you might just be right, Pierce." He winked.

"Thanks Jim," she hugged him quickly and grinned at me, before picking up her helmet and trophy, nodding at me to follow her. I sent him a brief smile before jogging to her side and following her as she made her way back to her bike.

We reached it and I offered to hold her stuff, which she accepted, as she picked it up and looked it over. It was scratched up, and the mirror on the left side was hanging off, but other than that it looked alright.

She started wheeling it away and I followed as she navigated through the crowd and all of the people congratulating her. She accepted them and the pats on the back gracefully, smiling shyly at anyone who approached her.

We were walking towards the man who had awarded her the trophy earlier, he caught our eye and stopped talking to the other racer with him and promptly shooed him away. The racer narrowed his eyes at us, clenching his fists at his sides, but swiftly walked away.

"Pierce! Again, what a great race. You'll have to visit us more often."

"Thank you Sir, but this race was enough for me for now." When she saw his questioning look she explained "I can't travel very far at the moment."

"Ah, I see. Well, we're all glad you're not hurt by that little tumble earlier," he laughed.

She chuckled and said "us too. Anyway, we're gonna go in a minute, after I have a shower, so-"

"Ah yes, of course! Here," he handed her an envelope and she took it, smiling gratefully, and tucking it inside her jacket pocket. "We'll look forward to seeing you again, if you change your mind."

"I'll think about it," she smiled and turned around, waving slightly. He nodded his head to her, then me, before turning on his heel and walking away.

We started walking back to the parking lot, and I asked her "what was that?"

"What, the envelope? My winnings; $250."

I nodded and made an impressed noise, asking "so is that how much you win every time?"

"I don't win every time," she laughed. "But no, it changes with what kind of track it is, and the different levels or riders. This was about the middle."

"That's cool. What do you do with the money?"

"Save it up. My parents don't really accept it if I offer it to them, and I don't want to spend it on useless things here and there, so I usually just save all of my money."

I nodded and told her "that's better than most teenage girls – or teenagers in general – myself included."

"Not really, I'll spend it in the end, just on something big that I want."

We arrived in the parking lot and she started walking towards the exit. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, sorry. My cousin was busy earlier, which is why I came by myself, but he's free now for a little bit, and is picking the bike up. I thought that we could hang out after this?"

"Yeah, that's cool. I'd like that," I smiled.

"Great," she grinned. Just then a truck rumbled in through the entrance and beeped at us, pulling into a parking space a few cars up.

A slightly lanky man jumped out of the truck and twirled Brittany up in his arms, spinning her around as the bike fell to the floor, and said "I take it by the trophy your friend is holding, that you won?" He grinned over and me, and I smiled back politely before he put her back down, and held her at arms length.

He was tall and thin, but still had a bit of muscle on him, and his blonde hair was scruffy and pointing in all directions. His eyes were a bright green, and were sparkling, similar to the way Brittany's do.

"Yep, first place. The bike got a little, uh, damaged," she winced, "but I'll give you the money to fix it if you let me know how much it will be."

"Nonsense, Britt," he told her as he picked the bike back up from its spot on the ground. "It's just a broken mirror; no problem to fix."

"But I want to pay for it, especially when you let me borrow it in the first place."

"You know I've got another bike at home; I rarely even use this one. Consider it as a well done for winning; spend the money on something nice."

"Are you sure?" Brittany asked hesitantly.

"Positive."

"Okay, then. Thanks!" she pulled him into another hug, but made sure to keep the bike standing between them this time. "Oh, this is Santana!" she turned to me suddenly, and looked apologetic, "Santana, this is my cousin, Charlie."

He held his hand out to me to shake, so I put the trophy in the helmet, and grabbed his hand, shaking it once, firmly.

"It's so nice to meet you; I've heard a lot about you."

I looked at Brittany to see her blushing and smiling shyly, and replied "It's nice to meet you, too. And not all bad, I hope."

He laughed, and said "bad? She can't stop talking about you!"

"Hey!" Brittany cried indignantly.

"I speak the truth, B."

She hit his arm good naturedly, and he grinned back at her before saying "I have to go now. I promised dad I'd be back to help him with some stuff. Well done for winning though, Britt. You'll have to stop round sometime, to have a proper catch up. And bring Santana with you."

"Will do," she nodded "thanks again."

"No problem. It was nice meeting you, Santana."

He pulled her into a quick hug, and then me, but I stiffened slightly. I wrapped one arm around him briefly, but then pulled back, uncomfortable with the contact. "You too," I smiled.

Charlie put the bike in the back of the truck and then drove away, beeping as he passed us.

"He's nice," I commented as we started walking to my car.

"Yeah, he's like an older brother really. I haven't seen him much lately, which kinda sucks. I sometimes wish he was my brother, so I could see him everyday and hang out, like you can with Ricardo."

I froze, before I started walking again, reminding myself that she didn't know anything other than what I had told her. Which wasn't much, admittedly. I made a noise in the back of my throat, and I saw her look at me curiously, but I didn't turn to look back at her.

"What's the matter? Aren't you that close with him, or something?"

I breathed in deeply and shrugged, waiting a few seconds before replying "No. we used to be, when we were kids, but then he changed. I don't talk to him much anymore."

She must have heard the coldness in my voice that I was trying to hide, as she stayed silent and didn't ask any more questions. We reached the car and I placed her helmet in the boot, keeping the trophy in case someone broke into it when we left again. She picked up her shower bag - that had been in my car since the night before for this reason - and shut the boot, walking back the way we came.

When we reached the showers I told her that I would wander around and look at the stalls while she washed, and to phone me when she was done. She said she'd be fast, and then we could get out of there and go somewhere else.

We split up and started walking in the opposite directions, me still holding the trophy for safekeeping.

I had been walking around for fifteen minutes and decided to get some food for us, because she was bound to be finished at any moment – fifteen minutes wasn't exactly classed as a quick shower.

I was in the queue for hotdogs for a few minutes, and then started my walk back. I was on the opposite side from where the car park I was in was, and just passed the 'Gold Permit Parking' sign.

I looked at the cars there as I passed and admired the most expensive ones. I noticed a black Harley Davidson F-150 truck with the same orange and white lines on the door that my brother had, and walked closer to get a better view.

I thought that it was weird that there was another car like his, considering they cost about $50,000 and Lima wasn't exactly full of rich people. The only reason he could afford it is because our father was a doctor, and mother a lawyer, both excelling at their profession and so were paid shitloads every month.

The weed shaped air freshener that he keeps hanging from his rear-view mirror was there, and when I rounded the front it was his number plate.

I took in a deep breath and looked around, unsure of where he could be, and why he was there. Looking at my watch I noticed that it had been twenty minutes since I had last seen Brittany, and started worrying for her even more. There's no way that she was in the shower for twenty minutes.

I took off running for the showers, making sure to look at everyone as I passed, but not much else.

I slowed down as I reached the showers, listening for any sound as I edged closer. I heard voices, and then they suddenly got louder, and I recognised my brother's voice.

Looking around the corner I noticed Brittany backed up against the wall, with her hair still wet and dripping on her clothes. Rico stood a few couple of feet in front of her. Suddenly he surged forward and wrapped his hand around her throat, lifting her up against the wall, holding her so that her feet were off the ground.

Her eyes widened and a choked breath escaped her as she scrabbled at his one hand with both of hers, trying to get free.

I screamed and ran towards them, dropping the food and lifting the trophy in the air. Rico was right in front of me, with his back to me, and I hit him over the head with it, without even thinking about what I was doing.

He fell to the floor, and Brittany followed him, but I managed to catch her halfway there. I moved her away from him slightly and she threw her arms around my neck, clutching me to her tightly as she burrowed her head into the crook of my neck.

I ran my hand down through her hair, to the bottom of her back, then up and down, trying to calm her down. She was gasping against me, and her breath was hitching in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. I pulled back, even though she just held on tighter, and grabbed her face in both of my hands, resting our foreheads together and looking into her eyes.

"Shhh. Breathe with me, Britt." I took deep breaths in and out for her to follow and smiled at her softly as she did so. I ran my thumbs under her eyes, wiping away the few tears that had collected there, and gently rubbed my nose against hers when she had calmed down.

I heard movement behind me, and turned to find Rico staggering towards us, fists clenched at his sides. When he saw that it was me, he looked shocked and asked "what…what are you doing here?"

I looked at Brittany before replying, swallowing down my guilt at her having to find out this way. "Watching the race with her. What are you doing here?" I didn't know how much he knew about her, and didn't want to risk revealing her name if he didn't know it, even though he'd be sure to find out if he wanted.

His face twisted and he looked back at Brittany, but I shifted to the side, blocking her completely from view. "You attacked me. Why would you do that?"

"You were attacking B-" I cut myself off from saying her name, and continued slightly calmer. "Why would I let you just attack her? You think I'd stand by and watch as you try to kill my friend?"

"So you choose your friend over your own brother!"

I heard Brittany gasp behind me, and felt her move away from me. I looked back at her and found her staring at me with such a heartbroken expression on her face. Turning back around I said "I'd never choose you. Not now I know the truth."

He narrowed his eyes and his mouth twisted viciously. He suddenly charged towards us and I moved toward him, wanting to get him away from Brittany. We clashed together, and he pushed me back a few steps before I gained my footing and kneed him between the legs.

He staggered back and I swivelled to Brittany, pulling my keys out of my pocket, throwing them to her and shouting "go! Get in the car, and get out of here."

She caught them, but I didn't get to see what else happened, because I was suddenly thrown to the side and landed on my back, the air knocked out of me.

I rolled over and pushed myself up, facing Rico again, who looked even angrier. I held my hands up, and said softly "why don't you just let us go? She won't tell anyone, so you don't have anything to worry about."

"I don't have anything to worry about? Nothing other than you fucking my head up again, right? I know it's your fault I can't remember."

"What are you talking about?" I laughed nervously. "How can that be my fault? I don't even know what you're on about."

"Don't fucking act like you don't know what I'm fucking talking about! I'm not stupid, I remember the stuff you said when you were younger. You're such a fucking bitch; did you know what you were doing to me? I bet you did; I bet you planned it."

I shook my head, tears springing to my eyes. "No, Rico, I-"

"Well you can expect me to tell our parents what has happened lately, no matter what happens today, and don't expect them to side with you…if you even get out of this."

"I don't know what-why?" I was crying then, trying desperately to stop, but not able to. It wasn't just what Rico was saying that was making me cry, but the knowledge that Brittany wouldn't want anything to do with me now that she knew of the relationship between me and her attacker.

He laughed darkly and said "don't worry, I'm sure you'll find out soon," before pulling a knife out from a pocket inside his jacket; the same knife that I had found under his bed before.

I sniffed and wiped my face roughly before asking "so what, you're just going to kill me? I mean sure, you're a murderer and everything, but would you really be able to kill your own sister? Mother and Father would never be able to forgive you, and I'm sure you wouldn't be able to either. Just let us go, and we'll all forget that this ever happened."

"You're not my sister," he growled. "And, yeah, I have no doubt that I'd forget," he laughed, then threw the knife at my chest.

I lurched to the side, and felt it cut my arm as I moved, but quickly shook the pain away as he aimed a punch at my face. I didn't move in time, and he caught me on me cheek, causing me to fall to the floor.

I scrambled up, but he kicked me to the floor again and started kicking me in my stomach, making me curl into a ball and try to find a way away from him. I gasped for breath, and saw the knife lying on the floor a couple of feet away, tainted with my blood. I flexed my arm, before pushing off the ground with my feet and lurched towards it, hand curling around the handle.

I slashed at his leg, and he groaned in pain, dropping to one knee and ceasing his kicking. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to the floor with me, rolling over to make sure he didn't squash me. Before he realised what was happening I was sat on his back and brought the hilt of the knife down, colliding it into the back of his head, the noise ringing in my ears as he groaned and his head dropped to the floor, no longer moving other than his back rising and falling with each breath he took.

I dropped the knife and fell to the floor next to him, one hand holding me up and I breathed in deeply, trying to calm my racing heart and think through what had happened. I didn't managed to do that though, as I saw movement form the corner of my eye and noticed that Brittany was still there, looking paler as ever but still safe.

I slowly got to me feet, wincing at the pain I felt in my abdomen as I did so, and approached Brittany, who had tears running down her face.

"Britt…I-are you alright?"

She looked away from me, and struggled to answer. "I want to go home now," she finally whispered out, and swiftly walked away.

I followed her with my eyes, unsure of what to do, but then looked around and picked her trophy up from the ground ran after her. She was almost at the car by the time I got to her, having started running as soon as she was around the corner and out of my sight.

I felt for my keys to unlock the car, and then realised she still had them. She seemed to remember that at the same time as me, as she lifted them and unlocked the car, sliding in the passenger's seat and throwing the keys in the driver's one, probably so she didn't have to touch me.

I got in and started the car, then turned to face her, holding out the trophy for her to take. She looked at it with a slightly scared and disgusted expression, refusing to take it, so I placed it gently on the dashboard in front of her, confused as to why she was reacting that way.

The drive back to her house was silent, and she ignored any attempts at conversation I made. The only time she spoke was when I tried to explain what had happened, and that was only to tell me that she didn't want to hear it.

I pulled up to her house and she silently got out of the car, ignoring the trophy that was still placed in front of her, but before she shut the door she said "I can't talk to you at the moment. You lied to me, when you knew how I felt about that. You abused my trust and I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust you again. Please don't try to phone me, or come to my house."

I watched as she ran up to her door and slammed it shut behind her, not looking back once, and then started my car and drove away, hating myself for not telling her sooner and ruining the one good thing in my life.

I just hoped that she would give me a chance to explain what had happened, and why I had acted the way I did, once she had thought about it a bit. There's no way I would be able to live without Brittany, now that I had experienced her friendship, and more first hand.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> You should check out my one-shot 'Say Goodbye', written for the Glee Angst Meme. I prefer it over this and actually found it easier to write. Writing that has made it harder to write this, and I've kind of lost the inspiration for this story at the moment.

Please review and let me know what you thought! And I have an exam Monday if you want to wish me luck ;) Even though I'm sure I'll fail, regardless. Anyway, thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Frogfeather_, _Thundering Ice_, _Alex Ryzlin Gold_, _BiaSilveira_ and _mick3y92_ for the reviews!

Big thanks to my Beta **Veiledgreyskies**. Check out her story :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 14<span>

I had driven around a little bit before returning home, scared of what would await me when I got there. I wasn't sure what Rico had meant when he said that my parents would side with him, but it had scared me enough to delay my return.

I pulled up and parked in the garage, noticing that Rico's car wasn't there in the process. During my drive around town I realised that I had forgotten to remove Rico's memory and I internally kicked myself for it, wondering how I could possibly forget such an important thing. But I was in the heat of the moment; Brittany had just taken off and I wanted to ensure she got out of there, but not taking his memory put the both of us, her especially, in more danger. I had no excuse for not making Rico forget.

I was pretty beat up from the fight; my back and stomach were littered with bruises, my cheek was swelling up, my lip was split and I was covered in blood from the cut on my arm. I didn't want to face my parents in that state if they hadn't heard what had happened first, even if that could possibly make them feel more sympathetic toward me. A cut and bruise wouldn't arouse any sympathy from my parents if what Rico said really was true, so I would rather stay away from them for the time being. Especially because Rico was just as beat up, with his leg, some bruises, and a possible concussion.

I stood at the door of the garage and listened in. Not hearing anything, I cracked the door open and peered through, seeing the foyer devoid of people. I ran to the stairs and skipped the creaky ones, getting to my room as soon as I could and slamming the door behind me, locking it in place.

I didn't care about any possible noise I would make then; I was safe in my room and my parents wouldn't bother to venture up there anyway. The only person who would possibly come up to my room was Anna, but she would be cooking at that moment.

Stripping out of my clothes I put them in a bag and swept it under my bed. As I walked into my en-suite bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror briefly before stepping into the shower. I grimaced; hopefully I'd look better once the blood had been washed off.

I took my time, letting my muscles relax the tiniest bit as the blood and grime was slowly washed away. I had tried to scrub at my skin but it hurt too much, so I used a loofa to gently wash away what I could.

I patted myself dry and looked in the mirror, wincing at what I saw. It looked worse than it had before the shower, probably because the blood was obscuring the damage done. The cut on my arm wasn't too deep, but still managed to hang open slightly and was still bleeding. I fingered the cut and decided that I didn't need to get my father to look at it – some antiseptic and a bandage would do. The rest of my body was covered in bruises, but there was nothing worse than that.

I sat down on the toilet seat and grabbed what I needed, dousing my arm in it and gritting my teeth at the pain. When it was cleaned, I tightly bandaged it then got dressed, wearing a long sleeve shirt so no one would see it.

I towel dried my hair and lay on my bed, too tired to do anything else at the moment.

* * *

><p>At some point in my haze I was startled by a noise that came from my doorway; I bolted upright. Blinking, I ran a hand over my face and shook my head, looking towards the door as a knock sounded. I stood and opened it, seeing Anna standing opposite me, smiling slightly.<p>

"Dinner is ready – your parents wanted me to get you."

I grimaced and thanked her, following her down the stairs and into the dining room. Rico wasn't there, and I looked at my parents' faces, not seeing anything to show that they knew of what I had done.

Sitting in my usual seat, I pulled it in quietly and started eating, not looking at either of them as I did so.

The silence was stifling, but I was used to the feeling, and preferred that than the forced talk we would have had otherwise. Finally, my father placed his knife and fork down and turned his body to face me slightly.

"What did you do today?" His voice was merely curious, but I opened and closed my mouth, trying to think of something to say that would buy me some time. Sure, he would find out soon enough what had happened, but I wanted to spend as much time as I could in peace. Before I had a chance to form a word though, he continued "I was talking to Noah Puckerman a couple of days ago and he was under the impression that he could persuade you to go out with him."

I scoffed, but prevented myself from saying anything else. I was sure my parents wouldn't want to hear what I had to say about him. "No. We're not even friends."

"I really don't know why," my mother said, giving me a look "he's a perfectly nice boy."

"We've been over this a million times. He isn't a nice boy, and even if he were, I wouldn't go out with him. I've finished eating now, may I be excused?" I left the table without waiting for an answer, not wanting to get into another argument today.

I passed Anna on the way up to my room and she smiled at me, some humour in it, and I knew that she at least understood my frustration with them.

* * *

><p>The doorbell rang and I looked at the clock next to my bed, frowning at the time being displayed. It was nine p.m. and we rarely ever got visitors at that time; our house was out of the way, and so the only people that visited us did so for a reason.<p>

Hearing raised voices, I ventured out of my room and to the top of the stairs, looking down to the front door. My dad was standing in front of it, blocking my view, but I could tell that it was a man by his voice.

"You shouldn't be here," my father whispered roughly, "leave now."

"Not until I talk to Ricardo." The man's voice was gravelly and held some anger, but my father didn't back down or seem affected at all.

I moved back, so the wall was covering me if anyone happened to look up. I didn't want to be caught listening in on a conversation I wasn't meant to.

"As I said before, he's not here at the moment. I'll get him to phone you when he gets home to set up a meeting. Leave now."

"No. I want my money back. You sold me the wrong amount, so either you give me extra now or give me the money."

My father looked around the house and I moved back further, making sure he couldn't see me. He looked worried, but also angry and when he responded I could hear the anger in his voice.

"You won't get anything back if you go about it like this. I made it cheaper for you anyway, considering the favours you have done me before, but if this is how you repay me, I don't need to give you anything. Find someone else to supply you."

The man surged forward and gripped the collar of my father's shirt, pulling him in towards him. He had a beard and his eyes looked wild as he growled "you can't just stop giving me it. I know things. Things that you don't want to get out."

He laughed manically, even as two men came out of nowhere and grabbed him by the arms, pulling him out of the house.

My father looked slightly surprised, but replied as calmly as ever "You can do what you want. Don't think that you're the only one in this town that has asked favours of me."

The front door slammed shut and I quickly retreated to my room, thinking about what had happened in the past few minutes, and how this would affect me when Rico inevitably told him about everything that had happened.

* * *

><p>Taking in a deep breath, I knocked on my father's study door, waiting for an answer. I hadn't gotten much sleep; I had been up planning what to say to my father when I approached him in the morning. I wanted to get it over with, and sort it all out before anything else could go wrong.<p>

His brisk "come in," sounded through the door and I opened it and stepped in, making sure to seem confident.

He looked surprised when he saw me and quickly stopped typing on his computer, turning to look at me fully. "Santana. What can I do for you?"

I took a deep breath before diving right in, not wanting to prolong the conversation. "I know what you're doing."

He looked confused and laughed "I'm working from home. What do you mean?"

"You and Rico. I know what you do in your spare time – how we have so much money, and probably all of the respect as well. I know why everyone is so keen on getting me together with Puck, and I know why I found drugs in your office and a gun in Rico's room."

He leaned back in his seat and ran a hand over his face, stuttering out a "how?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter how I know, or what I know really. I want you to give my friend some money. Rico tried to kill her, and she deserves compensation for it."

He sat up straighter and looked me in the eye "why would I give her money? If he tried to kill her, there would have been a reason behind it…she's the girl, isn't she? She's the one he's been looking for."

I shrugged "it doesn't matter who she is. It just matters that you give her the money."

"I'm not giving her any money."

"You have to," I said, eyes steely, and threat evident in my voice. "If you give her money, she won't tell anyone and will leave you alone."

"Leave me alone?" he laughed "she won't tell anyone anyway. Rico will make sure of that."

"She's not the only one that knows things. I know everything about what you do; what do you think the police will think of that? And before you laugh, I know which police are in on your little schemes as well, so I'd make sure I told someone trustworthy."

"You know nothing," he laughed "you're just bluffing. And don't even think you can blackmail me for money, I know the money would be for you."

"I know where you hide the bodies; that rubbish heap is pretty handy, but won't hide the smell forever. And that farm…they say pigs eat everything, but I'm sure there's some evidence left, don't you think? All they'd need is one speck of blood, and it's game over."

My father paled and looked at me in shock "you'd really do this to your own father? To your brother?"

"My brother tried to kill me and my best friend. I think the time of calling each other family has come to an end."

"When did he try to kill you?" he stood up and almost shouted that, looking me over, seemingly just noticing the bruise and cut on my face.

"Yesterday." I stated, trying to keep any emotion out of my voice.

"Is that why he isn't here? What did you do to him?"

I laughed "you don't seem to hold your son in very high esteem if you think his little sister can kill him."

Rico burst into the room then, looking wild, but when he saw me he stopped then exclaimed "what is she still doing here? Do you know what she has done?"

My father sighed and ran a hand over his face, shaking his head "no, why don't you tell me?"

"She tried to kill me! She removed my memory, which is why I can't remember anything about that girl, and then when I found that girl and tried to kill her, Santana tried to kill me!"

"And then you tried to kill her," he looked angry and Rico looked confused for a second, before understanding whatever it was my father was trying to say.

"I didn't think, I forgot. But what did you expect me to do? She tried to kill me! She's been working against us this whole time, I bet. I'm your son; you can't possibly side with her on this," seeing his hesitation he added "she left me to die through the night; she didn't know what was wrong with me – what she did to me – and left me outside in the cold. I'm just lucky that one of my friends found me. She showed me no sympathy – why should we show her some?"

My father sighed and ran a hand through his hair "you're right."

I closed my eyes and relaxed my mind, focussing on entering my father's head and doing something to stop whatever he was planning. None of us moved for a minute, and I looked through his memories, trying to find something that would help me.

A knock interrupted the silence and I startled, dragging the memory out along with me, but not preparing either of our minds in the process. I winced and looked over to my father who had a furrowed brow and slight nosebleed. He quickly wiped his nose with a tissue, looking at the blood on it with confusion, before throwing it in the bin.

"Honey," my mother peeked her head through the door "is everything alright in here?" She looked from the three of us and seemed to see the tension and fear. She also noticed that Rico and I were slightly beaten up.

Stepping into the room, her voice was harder as she asked "what's going on?"

My father cleared his throat as he replied "nothing, we're just trying to sort out a little matter."

It seemed to me that they didn't want my mother to know what was happening, and I didn't know why not, but wanted to have some chance of getting out of it without having to hurt anyone, so I said, rather nonchalantly "they're debating on whether or not they should kill me."

My mother's eyebrows rose slightly and she looked surprised, but not shocked. "Don't be ridiculous," she seemed to be speaking to all of us, then added "come on then, Santana. Go up to your room."

"No," I refused. "I have just as much right to be here as everyone else. If you're debating my life, I want to be here to hear your reasons."

"No," my father agreed. "She's not going anywhere for the moment; she's staying right there."

"I don't even know why this is a conversation," I said. "Just give my friend the money, and she'll forget it ever happened. Then you don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Like hell he'll give you any money. And you're good at making people forget – last time you fucked my head up." Rico shouted, storming towards me, but our mother got in the way and pushed him back.

"Calm down, Ricardo." My mother warned. After he took a few deep breaths and a step back she continued "now, what do you mean?"

"I mean, she's the reason that I couldn't remember anything about that girl. When she removed the memory I blacked out and felt really shitty after. She's a danger to this family."

"She's always been a danger to this family," my father muttered, but I heard him.

I stayed silent, knowing that there was no point in trying to hide the truth now, after everything I had said as a child. They knew that there was something different with me, now they just knew what.

"Well then, it's settled. She goes." My father stated, rifling in his drawer, looking for something.

"You need to think of the consequences of your actions!" my mother exploded, grabbing his arm and stopping him from looking through his desk any more. "You can't just go around killing people and not expect it to come back. You may be friendly with the police, but if our daughter goes missing or dies, that won't make a difference. They'll have to follow it up, and they'd find out soon enough about your little side business."

"Well what do you propose I do?"

It was silent for a few seconds, and everyone was breathing heavily, before my mother broke it, "kick her out."

I looked at her in shock. Sure, we were never that close, but I never thought that she'd betray me like that. My face twisted and I looked at her in confusion, but she refused to look at me, instead staring my father straight in the eyes.

He took a deep breath before releasing it. "Very well." He gave Mother a look before standing and grabbing me by the arms, pushing me out of the study and toward the front door. He was gripping tightly against my cut and I fought the urge to cry out, not wanting to give him or Ricardo any satisfaction in doing so. I gritted my teeth and followed his pull, not wanting to put any more pressure on it than necessary.

"Wait, what are you doing? What about my stuff?" I asked, thinking about all of the clothes and belongings I needed to collect before I left.

"We've fed and clothed you for this long; you can do it all by yourself now. You should be grateful for what we've already given you."

Rico opened the door ahead of me, and motioned his arm outside and to the pouring rain. I was pushed through the door and Rico stuck his leg out, tripping me up and making me fall into the mud.

I pushed myself off of the ground with a groan, wiping my hands on my jeans that were muddy anyway and turned back around to the house. The door was already shut and the house looked as dark as it usually did.

I put my hands in my pockets and pulled out my phone and car keys, letting out a sigh of relief that I had something to my name. Walking around to the garage, I looked out in case anyone came out to see me, but no one did. I got into the car and drove away, not wanting to linger where I wasn't wanted any longer.

* * *

><p>I was parked on the side of a road, a little way from my house, and was drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, wondering what I was going to do now. First thing's first, I needed to get some clean clothes on. The heater in my car was on, but I was covered in mud and needed to change out of them. I had some in the boot, but they were just old ones I kept in there for emergencies.<p>

Pulling out my phone, I flicked through my contacts and landed on Anna, my thumb hovering over the call button. I didn't want to endanger or worry her, but she'd find out soon enough what had happened.

I pressed the call button, and it didn't take long before she answered with a worried "Santana?"

"Yeah, it's me," I answered, then cleared my throat. "I was uh-I was wondering if you could do me a favour the next time you're in my house?"

"Yeah, of course. What is it?"

"If you could get me some clothes together. Only if it's safe, of course."

I could hear her breathing on the other side of the phone, thinking something over. "Where are you? What's happened?" She finally asked, the worry more pronounced in her voice now.

"I don't know where I am, exactly. On a road somewhere, by my house. My parents uh…they kicked me out."

"What? Why did they do that? Oh, don't worry about that now. Come over to my house and talk to me here."

"No, I couldn't do that. I don't even know where you live," I suddenly realised.

"Where are you going now? Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Well no, but-"

"No buts," Anna cut in. "Listen, you don't have to stay if you don't want to, but at least come over and let me see you first."

I looked out of the window at the rain and sighed, acquiescing and asking her where she lived. She rattled off her address and I quickly put the car into gear, pulling away and driving in the opposite direction.

It didn't take me too long to get there, or at least it didn't seem like a long time. I felt like I was still in shock at the fact that my parents kicked me out, and I was now left with basically nothing.

I turned the car off and looked at the house in front of me, noting the size. It was fairly big for someone who was a housekeeper, and looked pretty picturesque. I walked around to the boot and pulled out the bag of clothes, never so glad that I plan ahead, even if it wasn't for this situation exactly.

I walked up to the door, but before I could knock it opened and Anna stood in front of me, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth anxiously.

"Thank God you're alright, I was worried sick!" she ushered me into her house and looked outside before closing the door behind me, enveloping me in a welcome and cosy heat already.

"Can I got get changed first?" I asked sheepishly, gesturing to my ruined clothes, then the bag I held in my hand.

"Of course, just follow me."

She led me to a bathroom on the same floor, just down the hallway, and I stepped into it, shooting her a smile before I closed the door. I changed my bottoms quickly, but also washed the mud off of me, using the mirror to do so. I noticed that there was a patch on my shirt on the arm, but when I looked closer I noticed that it was blood.

Pulling my shirt off, I saw that my bandage was soaked through in blood, and that the shirt was too. I looked in my bag of clothes, but there wasn't another long sleeved top, so I pulled it back on and hoped that the lighting wouldn't give it away.

I left the bathroom and found my way to the living room. Anna was already sitting down, with two cups of hot chocolate set on the table in front of her, and the fire casting a nice glow on the room. Sitting down opposite her, I made sure to keep my injured arm in the shade as much as possible as I reached over and took my drink from the table.

"Thank you," I murmured as I sank into the seat slightly and took a sip, appreciating the heat as it slid down my throat.

"Why did they kick you out, Santana?"

"Rico and I had a fight yesterday," I shrugged. Knowing that she most likely knew everything that happened in my house – she was there all the time, and a normal housekeeper wouldn't be paid enough the keep this house – I added on "he tried to kill Brittany, so I defended her and he tried to kill me. I talked to them this morning, I tried to blackmail Father and got kicked out."

She stayed silent when I was talking, but as soon as I finished she rushed out an "are you hurt?" her eyes were assessing me, and I saw the way her eyes lingered over the bruise on my face and cut lip before continuing on.

"I managed to beat him," I smiled, trying to get her to calm down and avoid having to answer, but she knew what I was doing.

"Santana, tell me the truth. What's the damage?"

"Just a little cut on my arm and some bruises. Nothing really."

"Let's see," she demanded as she put her mug on the table and walked around in front of me, taking mine from my hands and pulling me up.

"No, I'm fine. As I said before, he didn't really do anything."

"Take your shirt off and show me what's wrong, Santana." Seeing that I wasn't going to she added "you'll make me feel better about it if you do. You don't know how much I'm worrying right now, and that will put my mind at ease. You know the doctors said no high blood pressure."

I frowned at the fact that she played the guilt card, but I did what she had told me as I asked "they did?"

She waited until my shirt was off before shaking her head "nope." and looked over my body. Her eyes widened at the sight of the bruises, eyes travelling up to my arm and landing on the blood-soaked bandage. She rested her hand lightly on it, to feel if it was dry, and when it wasn't she walked out of the room without saying anything.

I looked after her, but then sat on the chair arm facing the fire, letting it keep me warm. I resigned myself to the fact that she'd look after me for the minute, knowing how much she cared about me.

She came back in and touched me gently on the arm, so I turned my head and saw her with a first aid kit open in her hand. She sat on the table opposite me and I held my arm out for her, letting her unwrap the bandage.

She gasped when it was finally undone and cleaned of blood, but I didn't turn to look, knowing what it looked like already. "How did this happen?" She asked, already working on cleaning it properly and bandaging it again.

"Rico threw a knife at me," I laughed bitterly, still surprised at just how much he seemed to hate me.

She took in a deep breath through her nose as she replied "well, you're lucky that it only caused this much damage."

"How much do you know, Anna? I mean, you must know a lot, because you work there, but how much? How long?" I couldn't hold in the questions anymore, they just spewed out without my permission.

"I know a lot. Not everything; I'm sure even Rico doesn't know everything, but I know a lot. Your father never wanted you to know, and I respected that – it kept you safer that way, and that's all any of us ever wanted."

"Well what changed? Why don't they want to keep me safe anymore?"

"Nothing changed. They still do, it's just this is the easiest way to do so."

"By sending me away from them, to never see them again?"

"By sending you away from the danger." She finished wrapping the bandage and tapped me on the back, packing the first aid kit back up and taking it to the kitchen.

I pulled on a clean shirt and put the old one back into the bag before facing her as she returned. "Thank you for this. I'll leave now and get out of your way, but I appreciate it so much."

"Do you have anywhere to go? You're welcome to stay here, you know."

"I know," I nodded. "But yeah, I'm going to a friend's house; she's said that I can stay for as long as I need to." I felt guilty lying to her, but didn't want to get her into trouble; she worked for my family after all. I'd be fine for a while anyway, staying in my car. That never hurt anybody.

"Who?" she asked, suspicious.

"Quinn," I stated, the first name that popped into my head.

"Well phone me up and have her talk to me as soon as you get there, otherwise I'll find out where she lives and drive there myself."

I sighed and let out a meek nod, knowing she didn't believe me, and that I'd have to ask Quinn for help now. I gave her a hug and picked up my bag, walking to the door and opening it.

"I'll phone you when I have your clothes," she said softly.

"Thank you," I smiled up at her, nodding slightly "for everything."

"It's no problem, 'Tana – don't ever think that it is."

I nodded and let out a little goodbye as I walked to my car, placing my bag in the boot before walking around and sitting in the driver's side. Waving, I pulled out of the driveway and drove to Quinn's house, dreading the conversation I was about to have.

I parked outside of her house, mindful of her car in the driveway, and ran up to the porch, getting out of the rain as fast as possible. Looking around, I gathered some courage and knocked on the door.

Luckily, Quinn answered, and she looked surprised to see me. Her eyes flitted over my shoulder, but quickly returned to my face, and I looked at the floor, uncomfortable with the scrutiny I seemed to be under.

Finally, she broke the silence "I didn't even know you knew where I lived."

I cleared my throat "I'm the captain of the Cheerios; I need to know this stuff."

She hummed. "well…is there something I can do for you?"

I shifted on my feet and looked up at her face, seeing her curious eyes stare back at me. I gulped and quickly asked "would I be able to stay 'round your house tonight?"

"Uh sure, but do you have any sleep stuff?" she asked, looking at my bag free shoulder.

I shook my head, but stepped through the doorway, closer to Quinn and away from the danger outside. She'd be safe enough for the moment.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! Please review to let me know what you thought and what you'd like to see :)


	15. Chapter 15

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Cyan55_, _Thundering Ice_ and _Alex Ryzlin Gold_ for the reviews! And to _elfypelfy_ and _acheleandheya_ for the messages :)

Massive thanks to my beta _veiledgreyskies_!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 15<span>

Stepping out of my car, I shouldered my bag and walked into the school, keeping my head held high, but avoiding eye contact with everybody. Quinn was on my left side copying my actions, brushing against me every now and then to remind me that she was there. I could feel everyone's stares bore into me, whispers following us as we walked through the front doors. I let out a sigh, I knew this was just the beginning.

I had put on as much makeup as possible – without it seeming fake – over my bruises, but it didn't manage to hide the damage Rico had done to me. My injuries were obvious; my lip was split and the swelling around my eye was obvious from a mile away, despite the bruising being toned down. I wanted to wear another long sleeved top, but there's no way Coach Sylvester would let me, so I settled for wearing my winter Cheerios uniform, no matter how odd it would look. Luckily though, it wasn't summer, so I might just be able to get away with wearing it, even though the outline of the bandage could be seen on my arm.

We stopped by Quinn's locker first and she grabbed the books that she needed before following me to mine. Usually I wouldn't be following her around and waiting for her, but I wanted the protection she seemed to provide. Yeah, I'm the top bitch and everyone is scared of me, but that doesn't mean they won't look or talk about me; if anything they'll watch me even more.

We walked to my locker in silence and I kept an eye out for Brittany, wanting to see her and explain what had happened. I wanted her to hear me out; she had had time to think about it, I just wanted her to understand my reasons for acting the way that I did, and for not telling her that it was Rico who had attacked her.

I couldn't see her, but Puck was standing a few lockers up from mine, watching us, an indecipherable look on his face. I looked away and got what I needed from my locker, turning to face Quinn after. I muttered a "Thank you" as I smiled awkwardly, unsure of what exactly I should say. She had done so much to help me and I was more than grateful, but I didn't know how to tell her all this, not used to being friends with her yet.

She seemed to understand my dilemma and smiled softly, "that's alright." She patted me on the arm before turning and saying "I'll see you in Biology."

I watched her walk off and then turned in the direction of my lesson, dreading the stares I was sure to receive and hating the one I could feel burning into me already.

* * *

><p>I was sat in my seat and fiddling with my pen when Quinn pulled out the seat next to me and sat down, muttering a "hey."<p>

I cleared the desk of my belongings and smiled to her. "Why are you sitting here? You usually sit with Smith."

"I figured you could use company."

I frowned, but didn't reply as the teacher entered the room and started the lesson. We worked on the questions quickly and when it came to the practical we each took on specific tasks, carrying them out without discussion.

We finished before anyone else, and as we were copying out our results Quinn said "we work well together; we should share a desk more often. Smith is good to talk to, but not all that fast when it comes to work like this; it's nice to be able to get everything done."

I laughed and nodded, agreeing to what she said. "We should. I've never actually finished my work this early before."

"How are you doing?" She asked randomly, looking up at me from her writing to see my face.

I looked at her curiously "I'm fine. Why?"

"Santana," she sighed "there's obviously something wrong with you. You've refused to tell me how that happened, and I've respected that so far, but I'm not just going to let you stew in your thoughts and feelings. I want to help, and to do that you have to talk to me."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"There obviously is."

"There will be in a minute if you don't leave me alone."

"Why? So you can go off and-"

"I'm just annoyed that people can't mind their own business!" I almost shouted, looking around after to make sure no one was staring at me again. Quinn looked upset, so I sighed and closed my eyes "look, I'm grateful for what you've done. Really, I am. I just don't want people knowing my business. It's not even you, really, just everyone else in this godforsaken school that have an insane need to know everyone's business."

Quinn nodded. "I'm sorry if I'm annoying you or have been overstepping my bounds, but I care about you and don't want to see you get hurt. Obviously I'm a little late on that front, but I can try to stop anything else from happening to you. I want to help you and-" she smirked and laughed a little "as cheesy and cliché as this will sound, I'm here for you if you ever want to talk or need any help."

I was looking at the board as she talked, unable to look her in the eyes, but when she finished I looked at her and shook my head "why?"

"I really don't know; I've tried to get rid of it, but it hasn't worked. I guess we'll both just have to put up with it," she smirked.

I laughed and the bell rang, so I packed my books and stood as Quinn did the same. It was lunchtime and we stopped off at our lockers before making our way to the café, getting some food and sitting down. There were other Cheerios and jocks sat at the table, but two seats were left open in the middle – our usual seats – so we sat there.

I started eating when something was placed on the table opposite me and I looked up, scowling when I saw Puck sit down facing me.

I said nothing, but glared at him before I returned back to my food. He had been following me around and watching me all day, not saying anything, just staring. I had ignored it at first, thinking that maybe it was just a coincidence, but as it continued I figured that he knew some of what had happened on the weekend. It wasn't just him being his usual self, because he didn't say anything or try to flirt disgustingly with me.

I toyed with my food and looked to my left, listening to the conversation Quinn was having with another Cheerio, nodding every now and then. Peaking up at the clock I accidentally caught Puck's eye, but he was still staring at me, not backing down. I felt my hands clench into fists and I narrowed my eyes, but his expression stayed the same – a small smug smile on his lips, but the rest of his face was neutral. He didn't care that I knew he was watching me and that he was aware of what had happened between me and my family.

I looked back down to my food and ate a few more forkfuls, but I could feel the anger bubbling in me as his eyes continued to bore holes in my head. Finally, I had enough and exploded "fucking stop it!"

The room silenced and everyone turned to look at me, but I didn't care in that moment. Puck looked slightly surprised, but still didn't back down and I breathed in heavily through my mouth, clenching and unclenching my fists.

Once I'd calmed down a bit, I registered the stares pounding into me a bit more, and I said "you think you can get everything you want, but you can't. Why don't you fucking listen to me, and all the other girls who don't want you, you're repulsive, leave us the fuck alone!"

"Like you can talk. Your face is a fucking mess – no one will want you like that. What happened; did you piss off a toddler?"

"Oh, that's funny," I laughed and pushed back from the table, but Quinn's hand on my arm stopped me from doing anything else as she stood with me.

"You think you're big shit, don't you? Well, let me tell you: you wouldn't last two minutes in a fight with me." I practically growled, gripping onto the table to prevent myself from lunging at him.

"You wanna test that? How 'bout-"

Quinn's hand tightened its hold on my arm as she cut him off "Santana's right, Puck; you're like a cat in heat. Most of the girls I know wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole, scared of the STDs you must have. You really need to grow up." She leaned down and grabbed our bags off the floor before turning me and muttering a "come on."

I followed after her, refusing to look back and ignoring the stares that had multiplied since this morning.

We exited the canteen and got a few feet away before I turned to Quinn and took my bag from her, asking "why did you do that?"

"You looked like you were going to kill him, and while he's annoying, he doesn't deserve that. Plus, as I told you earlier, I have your back."

* * *

><p>Entering the classroom, I took a seat at my desk and placed my books in front of me, watching as people walked into the room. I shared the class with Brittany and was waiting for her to arrive, having not seen her all day. I had planned on looking for her at lunch, but everything that happened with Puck had put me off and made me forget.<p>

She entered the room with a Cheerio and smiled at something she said, she looked tired and slightly ill as she did so. She followed the girl to the desk in front of me and I tried to catch Brittany's eye, but she ignored me, looking everywhere but my direction. I frowned, hurt that she wouldn't even look at me, and slumped slightly in my seat, staring at the back of her head as she sat down.

The lesson passed slowly and I spent most of it watching Brittany, not paying attention to the work the teacher set. She kept shifting in her seat and was slumping slightly, looking nothing like the graceful and energetic Brittany I knew. I wasn't even aware that she could be this down.

As soon as the bell rang she grabbed her things and raced out of the room with me on her heels, but I didn't manage to catch up with her. We had Glee now, so I'd definitely see her, but I had wanted to talk to her before to hopefully gain some form of forgiveness or understanding, no matter how small.

Well, if she wouldn't give me a chance to talk to her I guess I'd have to try to make her through song, to make her understand everything. I had been planning a song, just in case it happened, and was ready to perform as soon as I entered.

I walked into the choir room and straight over to Mr Schuester, glancing at Brittany and seeing her sat in between Rachel and Finn. As soon as Rachel saw me looking she folded her arms across her chest and sent me a firm glare.

Looking away, I smiled at Schuester and said "I was wondering if I could sing a song now? You said you wanted me to be more involved and participate, so here I am."

"Sure," he nodded, smiling brightly. The last couple of people settled into their seats and he announced "Santana is going to sing for us now. Take it away."

I told Brad what I was going to sing and then took my place in the middle of the room, taking a deep breath and holding it for several seconds before singing.

_You have my heart  
>And we'll never be worlds apart<em>

My eyes were closed as I sang, hands clenched together in front of me, not yet ready to look at Brittany and see if she knew what I meant. I pictured her sat in front of me, with a smiling face, but didn't want to be disappointed by what I was sure I would see instead.

_When the sun shines, we'll shine together  
>Told you I'll be here forever<br>Said I'll always be a friend  
>Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end<br>Now that it's raining more than ever  
>Know that we'll still have each other<br>You can stand under my umbrella  
>You can stand under my umbrella<em>

I looked at the floor before I opened my eyes and gazed around, not focussing on one person at that moment. I kept away from Brittany, Finn and Rachel, knowing that at least one of the three would be glaring at me, and I didn't want anything to put me off the first step of my apology to Brittany.

_When the war has took its part  
>When the world has dealt its cards<br>If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart_

I looked Brittany in the eyes then, seeing the softness in them, even under the initial hardness. I kept eye contact, letting her see everything I was feeling, but she broke it after a few seconds, looking to the side with a scowl on her face. I looked away too, casting my gaze to the floor as I sang the rest of the song, refusing to look up again.

_You can run into my arms  
>It's OK don't be alarmed<br>Come here to me_

Everyone clapped and Schuester cheered me on, but I walked to the back of the classroom and took a seat there, next to Quinn. She smiled at me and whispered "that was amazing," and I shrugged slightly, having tried to forget that everyone else was watching me sing that song.

The club passed quietly, but five minutes before the end Brittany jumped up from her seat and cut off Mr Schuster's sentence as she announced "I need to sing a song."

"Well you can hardly do that; I'm talking and there isn't much time left."

"You cannot interrupt inspiration, Mr Schue. If Brittany needs to sing, she needs to sing," Rachel said loudly.

He looked doubtful but stood back, knowing that no one could dissuade Rachel from an idea once she had it, and if she was backing up the chance for someone else to sing, it had to be important.

Brittany mumbled "thanks" to him and she talked to the band before taking the spot I was in earlier.

_Tonight I'll have a look  
>And try to find my face again<br>Buried beneath this house  
>My spirit screams and dies again<em>

_Out back_  
><em>A monster wears a cloak of Persian leather<em>  
><em>Behind the TV screen<em>  
><em>I've fallen to my knees<em>

She looked slightly angry, but also resigned to what was happening and what she was feeling.

_I said you got me where you want me again  
>And I can't turn away<br>I'm hangin' by a thread and I'm feelin' like a fool  
>I'm stuck here in between<br>The shadows of my yesterday  
>I want to get away<br>I need to get away_

She was looking me in the eyes, trying to convey everything she meant and I was tempted to close my eyes and look away myself, as she had done earlier, because of how upset she looked. I kept the eye contact however, knowing that if I couldn't handle that, there's no way she would believe I was capable of handling any kind of relationship with her again.

_Now you know  
>Yeah you got my back against the wall<br>Oh god  
>I ain't got no other place to hide<br>Chained down  
>Like a sitting duck just waiting for the fall<br>You know  
>Yeah you got my back against the wall<em>

She was breathing heavily then, and looked as if she was going to cry at any minute, so she swiftly left the room, forgetting her bag in the process. I jumped up and followed after her, grabbing both of our bags and running out the room, ignoring the hand Rachel held out to try to stop me.

I saw her running down the corridor, limping slightly, and called out "Brittany! Wait!" she continued running so I shouted "I've got your bag. You need to talk to me sooner or later anyway; you can't just ignore me forever."

She stopped running but didn't turn around and I caught up to her easily, handing her her bag as I stepped in front of her. She took it without looking at me and I murmured "you don't even need to talk; just listen to what I have to say. Can you do that?"

She didn't say anything, so I took it as a yes and continued "I was an idiot, I know that, but I'm only human; we all make mistakes. And I know this isn't helping, but I'm honestly not trying to make an excuse. Just, remember what you told me before? That you can't just fall at every hurdle; you need to jump them, or at least try. Yes, this may be a bigger hurdle than you were thinking, but the principle still applies. You can't just give up on us, after one mistake and error, without even hearing me out or talking to me about it. Everyone deserves a second chance, right? Well, I really hope you give me mine. I'd hate to be punished for something my brother did; hell, I'm already being punished for something my brother did, but for you to do that…it would kill me. Just please, think about it and hear me out – that's all I'm asking."

Brittany's face didn't really change while I was talking – it pretty much stayed in an impenetrable mask. I smiled unsurely before I turned and walked away, leaving her to mull over what I had said, and hopefully come to the conclusion I so wished she would.

I walked to the field and caught a few Cheerios on the way to do the setting up and lifting, knowing that my stomach and back was too tender to do much. Plus, I didn't want to split my arm open again if I strained it too much.

They set it up while I sat on the bleachers and watched everyone arrive, taking note of Brittany turning up by herself slightly later than everyone else. I let them all talk for a while, not wanting to have to get up and start the practice I had planned, but knowing I had to.

Coach Sylvester wasn't due to be in the practice, but she liked to turn up and surprise us, making sure everything was running smoothly and as planned. I gathered the girls together and told them what we were going to do, and when we started getting into formation Brittany walked over to the bleachers, still not able to do any physical activity as rigorous as this yet.

As the practice wore on I could feel myself getting stiffer, my stomach cramping with the movement and pain flaring up all over, but continued on. I was sweating like crazy, which wasn't helped by the winter uniform I was wearing, and I was sure my arm had split open again, but I fought through the pain, determined to finish the practice. I wouldn't let Ricardo take that from me, as well as everything else he had already stolen.

We were in the formation on the pyramid, perfecting it and holding it. We were exceeding the cheerleading height restrictions for high school students by a crazy amount, but that's what you do when you're in Coach Sue Sylvester's Cheerios.

I was at the top and my stomach spasmed making me twitch the slightest bit. I tumbled from the top, landing on the ground with my injured arm trapped under me awkwardly and I cried out, rolling over onto my back.

I gasped out, trying to get air into my lungs and calm the trembling down so I could at least sit up, but it wasn't working at the moment, the pain taking control over everything else.

Quinn rushed over to me as soon as the pyramid had disassembled and I groaned "help me up."

She pushed me into a sitting position and kept her hand on my back, feeling the trembles still racking through me. I looked around and saw the girls looking at me worriedly and Brittany stood by her seat. She could have been over to me by now, but it seemed like she didn't even care enough to see how I was.

I frowned, that was hurting me more than the pain rushing through my body. I shook my head and looked down at my body. I pushed up off the ground roughly, staggering to my feet. Quinn followed after me quickly, grabbing my arm tightly and I in turn gripped her shoulder, my fingers turning white as I closed my eyes, fighting against the dizziness that gripped me.

"Practice is over now; go shower," Quinn commanded everyone, and I heard them moving away slowly.

I would have been angry that she had taken control and stopped the practice when it was only just over halfway through, but I was just grateful that they wouldn't see me in such a weakened position. I probably would have told them to leave myself if I could speak in that moment.

Finally, I opened my eyes and stepped away from her, feeling slightly better, and Quinn's eyes penetrated my own "what happened?"

"Nothing," I shook my head, unconsciously folding my arms over my stomach protectively.

"Bull. There's obviously something wrong with you, it'll just be easier to tell me what."

"Can we go home?" I sighed, tired of the day and not wanting to linger in the school any longer.

"Sure," she agreed, picking our things up and moving towards the car, with me moving slowly behind her. I looked back to the spot where Brittany had been on the bleachers, but no one was there. I sighed and continued walking, figuring she had cast me away completely.

We got to the car and Quinn picked my keys out of my hand, giving me a look to say that there was no way she would let me drive. I shrugged and got in the passenger's side gingerly, wincing as I sat down; something that Quinn noticed.

The drive passed pretty quickly and within no time we were in her bedroom, casting our bags on the floor and sitting on our separate beds. Quinn had set up an air bed for me the night before, so I was gratefully reclining on that, letting my muscles relax for the first time that day.

"So, are you going to tell me now what's wrong with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," I sighed, keeping my eyes closed.

I heard her move and then my bed shifted. I looked to my side and saw her kneeling next to me. "Show me your stomach." I scoffed and she continued "if you don't, I'll tell Coach what happened and that there's something wrong with you. She'll be sure to find out what it is."

I ground my teeth together in frustration and gripped the edge of my top, lifting it to just under my breasts. I heard her inhale sharply and move, but didn't say anything. After a few seconds I pulled it back down again and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Happy now?"

"No. What happened?" I pursed my mouth shut and kept silent, looking away resolutely. "I know that those aren't the only injuries you have. There's obviously a reason you're wearing the winter uniform today – what's wrong with your arm?" I stayed looking at a spot on the wall, so she sighed "please, Santana, I just want to help you…okay, at least tell me if the person who did this will do it to you again."

"No," I shook my head "I took care of it."

"Okay then," she nodded "at least we don't have to worry about that."

"We?" I asked, arching an eyebrow as I turned to look at her.

"Well yeah, I'd like to think we're friends. Are we not?"

"We can be friends," I smiled,

"Great. As we're friends then, what's going on with you and Brittany?"

"Nothing. What do you mean?"

"I mean that you've both been acting awfully suspicious lately."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I shook my head in denial.

"Look, I know that you both like each other. What I don't know is what your relationship is – whether you're together or not."

I clammed up and couldn't think of anything to say, opening and closing my mouth uselessly.

She laughed "it's alright; we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just know that I'm here and willing to listen if you ever want to."

I looked at her in surprise "thanks," I smiled, thankful that Brittany had brought us closer together. Even being around Quinn was making me feel better, and I didn't know what I would have done if I didn't have her by my side through it all, even if though she didn't know the truth.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Sorry this chapter is shorter than the others. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!

Please review and let me know what you thought :)

I'm on tumblr at imaginebrittana.


	16. Chapter 16

**A.N. Thanks again to **_**Alex Ryzlin Gold, krys10, Thundering Ice, Cyan55, ricetxpeaches**_** and **_**Alloverme**_** for the reviews! :) And to elfypelfy and AwesomePerson22 for the messages :)**

**And of course, a massive thank you to my beta Veiledgreyskies, who makes this all readable :)**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 16<span>

Shuffling surrounded me and I cracked my eyes open, groaning when Quinn drew back the curtains.

She glanced at me as she made her bed and said "I was just about to wake you up. We need to get ready to go now."

I sat up in bed and looked at the time, tapping my fingers on my leg in thought. "I'm not going to school today," I finally decided.

"What? Why not?"

"I've got some stuff that I need to sort out, and it needs to be done in school time."

"What kind of stuff?" I shrugged and she asked with uncertainty "safe stuff?"

"Yeah," I nodded reassuringly as she sat on the bed, watching me.

"Well what am I supposed to tell everyone?"

"Just say that I injured myself in the fall and needed to stay home today. They saw me fall and always like to exaggerate every little thing –I expect there are rumours already that I broke my neck – so they'll believe it."

"Okay," she sighed. "Well, you'll be home when I get back from school, yeah?"

"I should be," I furrowed by brow in thought. "I can't imagine I'll be out for that long."

Quinn stood up from the bed and picked up her uniform "When are you going?"

"Soon," I shook my head "I better get it over and done with."

She nodded and left the room, so I quickly got dressed and made my bed, picking up my bag once I was done. I passed Quinn in the hallway and asked "Are you okay for a lift to school, or do you want me to take you?"

"I have my own car," she laughed "I'll be fine."

I nodded and left, grabbing an apple on my way out. I stopped in a coffee shop on the way to my destination and checked my watch, biting my lip at the time displayed. It _should_ be alright to go there now, but I didn't want it to blow up in my face if I was just a little bit early.

Deciding that I had the whole day to do it, and that I didn't need to rush anything, I sat down at a table and leisurely drank my coffee, appreciating the way it slid down my throat and woke me up a bit more.

When a group of people walked in, chatting and letting in a gust of leaves, I drained the last of my coffee and left, looking around to check that I wasn't being followed.

Puck would know by then that I wasn't in school, and so if my family were that desperate to keep an eye on me at all times, they'd probably have told someone to find me and follow me. I didn't see anyone that I recognised or that looked suspicious, so I got in my car and started driving, checking every now and then that there were no familiar cars or people. It had only been a day and the stress of it was killing me already; if something wasn't sorted out soon, I didn't know what I would do.

I pulled up a road away and stepped out, not wanting to park close enough to be spotted. I knew that it was stupid going back there, when I was lucky to get away with just being kicked out the last time they saw me, but I needed clothes and some other belongings.

I crept up to the perimeter of my house, looking through the hedges surrounding it and seeing quite a few guards posted outside, walking around in circles. I furrowed my brow and walked closer, careful of the leaves underfoot. I recognised the man; I thought back and realised that he used to come into the house every now and then, talking to my father about work related incidents, according to him. I had assumed that he had only recently hired the guards, but this looked like they had been there for all of my childhood. How long had this been going on?

I circled the perimeter, always aware of where I was stepping, and counted the guards. There were more in the front; the back was surrounded by forest – where the trees were packed together so tightly it was impossible to walk unnoticed – and tall fences, so it would be unlikely that people would try to break in that way. The back way it was then.

Part of the house recessed, which is where my bedroom was, and there was a latticework down the side wall that I always used to sneak in and out from at night. I had never noticed the guards in all the years I had been doing that, but they must have seen me do it, with how frequently it happened, so I found it slightly odd that they weren't anywhere near guarding that. If I could run over to that part of the house without being spotted, I would easily be able to get into my room.

I climbed through the trees, over the fence and hid behind the shed. It had been there for years, and was always kept clean and upright, but I never knew what was in it. The windows were blacked and the padlock was always fastened.

Looking around the side of the shed, I saw that a few of them were talking a little way away, looking at something on a phone by the looks of it. I sprinted to the alcove, looking straight ahead, listening out for any indications that they had seen me.

Hearing none, I made quick work of the lattice, climbing through my window in no time. My bedroom was the same state as I had left it; dirty clothes still in the same place. I frowned, wondering why they hadn't been moved by now. They were removed every day, so it was unusual for them to still be there.

I jammed everything I needed in a bag I found at the bottom of my wardrobe, packing all of my favourite clothes and belongings. I stopped at my bedside table and saw a strip of photos from a photo booth a couple of weeks ago. I sat on my bed and studied them, remembering how much fun we had had that day, wishing that I could have that back.

I had to talk to Brittany again to try to get her to forgive me.

I placed the strip in a book and put it carefully in my bag, then picked up a few more pictures and put them in.

Peeking out my door I looked for anyone approaching but saw nothing, so I moved across the hall slowly, pressing my ear up against Rico's doo, listening in. There was no noise, so I entered and walked straight to the loose floorboard, pulling it up and taking the gun out. I held it in my hand, testing the weight, before I tucked it in the back of my jeans, concealing it under my shirt.

I wanted to keep it away from my family. I knew that they probably had more, and could easily get more without much effort, but I felt somewhat safer knowing that I had taken something from them. Plus, if they happened to see me in their house, I had something to protect myself with if they didn't react kindly.

I put everything back as normal and moved down the hallway, still keeping an eye and ear out. I was already on the stairs when I heard voices. I looked down to see my mother and father walking out of the front door, slamming it behind them.

They were arguing and I walked closer to listen, making sure I would be able to run back up the stairs if they suddenly walked in again.

"It's not my fault! You're the one who got us in this mess in the first place!" My father shouted.

I frowned and listened as my mother calmly asked "and how did you figure that one out?"

"You're the one who went off and fucked some other guy, with no thought of me or your son waiting at home. If you hadn't done that we-"

"If I hadn't done that we would probably be dead by now. She's the only one that's kept us-"

"Don't! Don't say that as if you did us all a favour!" something hit the door and I jumped. I held my breath, preparing to run back up the stairs but nothing else happened, so I leant against the wall and slid down to the stairs, not able to comprehend what was happening.

"It was eighteen years ago; are you really still going to hold that over me now?"

"We're still facing the consequences of your actions, so I think it is perfectly justifiable to hold it over you still."

"My _actions_? It was one time!"

"You didn't need to keep her!" He shouted and I heard his footsteps walk away, and my mother's quickly follow.

"Of course I did! I've always wanted a daughter Enzo, and so have you. You gained a daughter through this," he started talking, so she raised her voice to cut over him again "don't say you didn't. You raised her; fed and bathed her; soothed her when she was injured. You wouldn't have done that if you didn't view her as your daughter."

He laughed bitterly "I had no other choice. She had to be kept alive, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed doing it. I did what I had to do for the sake of my son and this business; nothing else."

Their voices trailed off and I sniffled, realising that I was crying. I had never had a particularly strong relationship with either of my parents, but my father had always been withdrawn from me growing up. I had assumed that it was because I was a girl, but now I knew the truth and that certainly didn't mean that it didn't hurt; no matter how close you are to your family, hearing that they never wanted you and preferred you dead will hurt like you've never imagined.

It even made sense; why Rico suddenly pulled away from me when he was fourteen – he must have found out that I wasn't his sister; it also explained why my mother was constantly trying to please my father and suck up to him.

I coughed a laugh and shook my head, forcing my legs to stand up and pull myself together. I shrugged my bag over my shoulder and walked into the kitchen, grabbing something to eat before heading out the backdoor.

It opened in front of me and my eyes widened as I jumped back about to hide, but someone had already seen me.

"Santana?" Anna asked in shock, moving forward and closing the door roughly behind her. "What are you doing here? Don't you know how dangerous it is? They only just left!"

"I-I know," I stuttered, not able to look at anything past the glaring bruises covering her face. "What happened to your face?" I grabbed her and pulled her towards me to take a better look at what had happened, but she winced and grabbed her wrist. Letting go, I backed away and looked at her properly, noticing that she was favouring one leg more than the other, her wrist was clutched to her chest, and her face was covered in bruises.

She was looking around the house, her eyes darting from the doorways and I whispered "they did this, didn't they? My fa-Enzo; he did this?"

Her eyes held curiosity when I changed his name, but she just smiled sadly and refused to comment.

"You need to get out! You can't continue working here – quit now."

"I can't do that, Santana."

"Why not?"

"I need the money."

"You've got that big house! Sell that and buy a smaller one."

"Your parents own the house, Santana. They pay for me to live there."

"They'll kill you if you stay!"

"And they'll kill me if I go! You know everything now, Santana; you know how dangerous they are and what they would do to keep me quiet. If they think that I'm going to leave, they'd find a way to make me mysteriously disappear. No one other than you would notice anyway. I'm not threatening, Santana; there's no where I can go; that's why they hired me in the first place."

"What do you mean?" I asked, crying again.

"I know too much, but they knew that that would happen. It's impossible for someone to work in this house and not realise what is going on, and that's why they hired me. I have no ties anywhere else, so if they need to dispose of me, it would be easy to do so. No one would care."

"But I would care! Please, Anna, you can't stay. You need to leave. It's safer to leave."

"It's not, Santana."

"Why did they beat you up? What happened?"

She looked away from me and around the kitchen, refusing to meet my eyes.

I looked around and then chuckled humourlessly. "It was me, right? What, did they find you going in my room to get my clothes or something? Fuck! Don't you see? It's just going to get worse. They know that you're helping me out, and they hate me, so you're going to get hurt because they can't get to me."

"Santana, that's not it. Please, you should go now; someone could come in at any minute and see you."

"Only if you leave with me."

"I can't." My eyes were firm and they held her gaze. "Just go." She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the back door, looking out of it before pulling me into the briefest hug and pushing me out.

Looking around, I saw that the area was free of guards and turned back to Anna with the question in my eyes.

"They're on their break, but they'll be back any minute. We can talk another time, go now and phone me when you know I'll be home. Here," she looked around before rushing back into the kitchen, returning a couple of seconds later with a piece of paper. "This is my home number; phone when you need me."

I took it gratefully and nodded "Thank you." I swiftly turned and jogged to the place I had entered before, climbing over and returning to my car without much thought about my actions, instead too preoccupied with the matter of Anna.

I drove back to Quinn's house and let myself in with the key she had given me the day before. I was the only one home and so I walked in and made my way to her room, placing the bag on her bed when I entered. I slowly removed my clothes and belongings, placing them in a drawer Quinn had emptied for me beforehand, and thought of what had happened and what she had gotten herself into.

I couldn't stop thinking about how my father was so dismissive of me and my life; as if raising me as his daughter for seventeen years did nothing but make him despise me. I needed someone to talk to and trust, but who could I ask to do that?

Anna had already been harmed because of me, Brittany didn't want to speak to me, and Quinn was already providing me with a house and food. There was no one else I was friends with, and I didn't know my mother's family, not that they'd want anything to do with me anyway.

I sighed and sat down on the bed, placing my head in my hands. Tears were falling from my eyes again, but I did nothing to stop them, knowing that no one was around to see me break apart like that.

Brittany was the only one I'd be remotely able to trust and I hoped in the back of my mind that she wouldn't be harmed or act judgemental about everything I had to tell her.

No. I shook my head at the thought; I hadn't seen Brittany since yesterday, and anything could have happened to her since then. My family were no longer worried about me finding out about them, and could do anything they wanted to Brittany. They knew what she looked like, her name, and that she was associated with me. It would be so easy for them to find her and dispose of her.

I sprung up and ran out of the room, grabbing my keys and jumping in my car. Driving to Brittany's, I kept an eye out for her, my family, or anyone they were associated with, knowing that something might happen to her at any moment.

As I parked, I looked at her house and saw that it was empty and her car wasn't outside. I glanced at the clock on my dash and saw that school was just finishing, so I sat back in my seat and resigned myself to waiting, knowing that if I left now to look for her, I would probably miss her.

Twenty minutes passed and I had sunk down in my seat and resorted to biting my nails, something I never did. My eyes were darting between her house, the road and the clock, and when it had turned thirty minutes I turned my keys in the ignition. I was about to pull away when I saw her car driving down the road.

I let out the largest sigh of relief and felt a weight leave my shoulders, allowing me to propel myself out of the car and towards Brittany's, who had just pulled into the drive. I yanked her door open before she could. I leaned into the car, pulling her into my arms and out of the car.

"Thank God," I whispered, pressing my lips to hers, thinking of nothing other than the overwhelming relief and need that was flowing through my body at that moment. "Thank God. I thought I had lost you," I murmured against her lips, which were unresponsive against my own.

I realised what I was doing and stepped back but kept ahold of her hands, not quite ready to let her go completely. "Sorry," I muttered, embarrassed "I thought that you were dead."

Brittany cleared her throat "why would you think that?"

"I…can we talk?" her face hardened, so I added hurriedly "no, I will tell you why. No more secrets, okay?"

She surveyed me before nodding and walking into the house, leaving the door open for me to follow. I shut the door after me and looked around, noting the lack of people in the house "where is everyone?" I asked.

"Emily has a school play, my parents are watching it now."

I nodded and followed Brittany to the sofa, sitting on the cushion next to her. I took a deep breath and started, content to just talk the whole time as long as she would let me. "I realise that I asked too much of you; expecting you to put your faith in me again, after I had already broke your trust once, when I haven't shown you any in return. So that's what I want to do, because I do trust you and I want you to know that. I don't expect you to forgive me, or tell me anything just because I have, but I would love it if you'd listen to me and hear me out?"

She looked me in the eyes and nodded lightly, so I continued "I…fuck, I don't know where to start. I've ruined it already," I laughed under my breath, putting my head in my hands.

"How about I ask you questions, and you answer them?" I heard Brittany ask.

I looked up at her and she looked slightly worried, but her body was facing me and she was giving me her full attention. "Yeah," I nodded. "Yeah, that's good."

"Okay, so…how long did you know that it was your brother who attacked me?"

I looked down at the floor as I answered "Before you had told me about it."

It was silent and I looked back up to see her eyes shimmering with tears and a hurt expression plastered across her face. "So you only started talking to me and became friends with me because of Rico? To keep me quiet?" She looked so hurt.

"No. Brittany, no!" I pleaded, grabbing her hands and looking into her eyes, watching as the tears slowly fell down her face. "I was interested in you from the moment I looked into your eyes, that first time. You intrigued me, and no matter what happened, I couldn't stop thinking about you. Even if Rico hadn't attacked you, I would've talked to you, just maybe not in the same way. And it wasn't to keep you quiet. I would never do anything to hurt you."

"But he's your brother; surely you were going to get close to me, then hurt me and hand me over to him."

"No, and he's not actually my brother. Well, half. But-"

"What do you mean?"

"Can I tell you in a minute? I just want to sort this out first, piece by piece." I waited for her approval before I carried on, "if I had to choose between you or Rico hurting, it would always be Rico. I've already chosen that twice, and would continue to do so. You're the most important thing to me, Brittany. No one and nothing else is more important to me than you."

"Two times? Wha-how?" Brittany asked, confused.

"Yeah…uhhh. God, you're going to think I'm crazy now, but I said I was going to be honest with you. So please just give me the time to explain this."

She nodded uncertainly and I started "I'm different…not bad different, just I can do things other people can't, like an ability, but I'm not crazy; I can see memories belonging to other people. I don't know how, but they come to me and I just see them, as if it's happening to me. I can hear and feel what they're thinking and feeling, it feels so real while I'm viewing the memory. I said I've hurt Rico twice, well the first time was because I saw Rico's memory of that night, the one where he killed that man and chased you. I had already started developing it, so I knew that I had to remove the memory from one of you, but I knew that there was a chance I would hurt whoever I did it to. I decided to do it to Rico. Which is good, because something went wrong and I ended up hurting him."

I stopped and looked up.

Brittany was just staring at me, and she hadn't moved since I started explaining my power. "Britt?" I touched her arm gently and she turned her head slowly, looking me in the eyes.

Her brow crinkled as she processed what I had just told her "so…you can read people's minds?"

"You believe me?" I asked, incredulous, hardly daring to believe that she hadn't freaked out and ran off, or chased me out of her house.

"Of course," she stated as if it was the most casual thing she had heard. "Why would you lie about it? And I already knew there was something different with you. Like when you spaced out and almost crashed the car. She paused and looked at me as if something clicked in her mind; wait, did you get a memory then?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Was it a bad one? What happened? What types do you get?"

"No, it wasn't a bad one," I smiled, "I usually get bad ones, but that one was surprisingly nice."

"You said that Rico is only your half-brother?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I found out today." My lip quivered and I looked away, blinking rapidly to try and stop the tears from falling. I felt her hand on my chin, as she guided my face back to her, I felt my emotions catch up with me, as I broke down, looking into her eyes.

She pulled me into her chest and started rocking me, stroking my hair back.

"Why are you doing this? I shouldn't even by crying – you have more right to cry than me."

"Why? Because I was being stubborn and refused to listen to you when you tried to explain yourself? If I had given you the chance before, you would have had someone to talk to as soon as this happened, and you wouldn't be feeling this bad. It's my fault."

"No, it's not," I stated, pulling back to look into her eyes, conveying how serious I was.

"But-"

I shook my head, "I should have never lied to you in the first place. If I was honest from the beginning it would have all worked out fine. I'm worried for you now, Brittany. They know who you are, and I don't want them to find you and hurt you. They don't care about me anymore – they already kicked me out, and I'm sure it won't be long until they try to do something again."

"Where are you living now then?"

"With Quinn."

"Come stay here instead; there's more room and my family love you."

"I don't want to intrude on you, besides, it might make you more of a target."

"Don't be ridiculous; I'm already a target. And if you mean that, then you're putting Quinn in needless danger by staying with her. Besides, I feel safer with you here."

"Why are you being so nice? Offering all this to me and forgiving me so easily?" I asked confused, wondering how she was looking past everything that had happened.

"I forgave you the night it happened, Santana. Once I got home and had a chance to think things through, I realised that you stuck up for me and took a beating from Rico when you could have just walked away and let him kill me. How could I not forgive you, when you were so selfless as to do that? You sacrificed yourself for _me_."

"I don't deserve you," I whispered.

"And yet you have me," she smiled, and then it cracked and grew across her face. "That was so cheesy, wasn't it?"

I giggled and nodded a little and she laughed, pushing me lightly into the side of the sofa. It wasn't a hard push, but I grabbed my ribs on reflex and muttered an "ow."

Her face fell and she rushed to the floor in front of me "I'm so sorry! Let me have a look at what's wrong."

I shook my head and folded my arms over my chest. "No."

"You're hurt because of me; the least I can do is check over you and see if I can fix anything."

"Anna looked over me and sorted it all out. I'm fine' it's just a few bruises."

"Your housekeeper?" she asked, and when I nodded she stated "you said no more secrets."

I almost gave in, but still shook my head, knowing that it would hurt her to see the damage. It didn't help that it looked worse than it was.

She contemplated me for a minute, before rising to her knees and moving closer to me, resting both her hands on my legs.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, watching her face as it drew closer.

"Please just show me?"

I closed my eyes and gulped, shaking my head minutely.

Her lips touched mine and she nudged my face up, taking my bottom lip between both of hers. My arms unravelled from myself and I leaned forward, placing them on her waist as she deepened the kiss.

I fell into it, loving the feeling of completeness and being with her once more. We were kissing for a little while and I was focussing on everything I could feel when her hands started moving up my legs.

I groaned and she pushed me back until I was leaning against the back of the sofa and she was straddling my lap. Her hands found the hem of my top and she slipped under it, running her hands lightly across my stomach.

Our mouths parted, drawing in ragged breaths, trying to get as much air into us as possible, and she used the separation to tug my shirt up and over my head, throwing it on the seat next to us, faster than my dazed mind could comprehend.

She sat back and looked me over, and that's when I noticed what she had done. I untangled my hands from her hair and waist and wrapped them around my body, but she gently gripped them and pulled them back, holding my hands in hers as she whispered "let me see."

I acquiesced and placed my hands on her thighs, watching as she ran her hands over the bruises, gently seeing which places were the tenderest.

When she was finished inspecting my front she got off of me and pulled me up with her. "Turn around," she muttered and grabbed me by the waist, turning me so that my back was facing her.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured as her fingers traced the patters of the bruises and she placed a kiss to my shoulder. "This won't happen again, I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>A.N. So, quite a lot happened, right? I hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you thought! :)<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**A.N.** I forgot to say in the previous chapter, so I will say now: Thanks to elfypelfy for the idea of Santana and Rico only being half-siblings :)

Thanks again to _knowthescore_ and _veiledgreyskies_ for the reviews! And to _Thundering_ _Ice_ and _elfypelfy_ for the messages :)

And, as always, a giant thank you to the best beta ever, _veiledgreyskies_.

Chapter 17

* * *

><p>I curled into Brittany's body, breathing in her smell and appreciating everything about being with her again. We hadn't been separated for long, but the time between the incident with Rico after Brittany's race and her forgiving me had killed me, and I was so happy when she accepted me back, even though I was still confused as to why.<p>

I had moved in with her and her family after she had suggested it, getting out of Quinn's hair and away from her blow up bed. I mean, I really appreciated that she let me stay with her and it was much better than my car, but Brittany's bed is ten times better than anything Quinn had to offer.

Brittany's parents didn't know about us, of course, because they wouldn't be letting me share her bed if they did. All we had to tell them before they agreed to house me is that my parents had kicked me out, and that was more than enough.

They're so caring, I hadn't even realised that people like them existed until Brittany came along. Well, with Anna being the exception.

My forehead was resting against her neck, with my lips touching the little dip between her collarbones. I gave it a small peck and slowly looked up at her, trailing my nose up her neck as I did so.

She was still sleeping, and her nose twitched delicately as a piece of hair fell into her face. I tucked it behind her ear and breathed a smile as her eyes slowly fluttered open and landed on my own.

"Morning," her voice was scratchy and heavy from sleep, and I smiled brighter at her, leaning in and giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"Morning," I replied, nudging her nose with mine before I rested my head back on the pillow, staring at her. She wiped her face with her hand, before resting it on my waist and placing her hand on my back, pulling me into her. I let her move me, and rested my head on her shoulder again, sinking into the embrace.

Since I had told her everything that I knew, we had gotten much closer than we were before, even though it hadn't seemed possible at the time. Brittany had handled it surprisingly well and questioned me on anything that I had missed out, making sure to know every little thing there was to know.

We also spent even more time together; not only because we were living together. She seemed determined to make sure I was safe, and so accompanied me practically everywhere I went. While this would have annoyed some people, I just found it endearing and loved the company that she provided.

Brittany breathed out heavily and nuzzled her nose into my hair. "We should get up," she mumbled into the top of my head.

"I know," I nodded, but neither of us made a move to rise. Instead, we clutched tighter to each other and she pulled me further into her, so that my head was resting on her chest and I was staring at her.

My mind suddenly thought back to the memory I had seen when I was in the car with Brittany, and I had almost crashed. Out positions were similar, although we were wearing clothes at the moment, and the feelings were also scarily alike.

I furrowed my brow in thought and studied her face as I did so. The person whose memory it was loved the girl they were with, so did that mean-

"Brittany, Santana, time to get up!" Mrs Pierce announced. I rolled off of her and onto my side of the bed right before the door opened and her head peeked around it. "Ah, good; you're up. It may be the weekend, but that doesn't mean you can lay in bed all day," she grinned at us, to show that she was somewhat joking and continued "I'm cooking breakfast, so come on down now."

"Thank you, Susan," I nodded, while Brittany mumbled something unintelligible. She shot a fond look at Brittany before she shut the door and I heard her walk to Emily's room, telling her the same thing.

"Come on then, Britt." I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed, running out of the room and into the hallway.

Emily's door opened and I stopped, causing Brittany to crash into my back and giggle "Santana!"

"Breakfast, Em! Come on, don't dawdle!" I grabbed Emily's hand with my free one and pulled her along with me, until we got to the kitchen where I let go and went to the fridge, pouring us all out a glass of orange juice.

"What's with the happy mood?" Susan asked me and I smiled, shrugging slightly.

I was unsure of why I was so upbeat, but when I looked at Brittany and she grinned at me, the light sparkling in her eyes and her teeth widely on display, it filled me with a happiness I had never known before, and I couldn't help but smile back just as fondly.

* * *

><p>I knocked on the door and looked around once again, sure that no one had followed us, but needing to keep watch anyway. Brittany was stood next to me and kept note of my nervous behaviour, her eyes following every movement I made with concern.<p>

We were outside Anna's house. I needed to know more about my real father and anything that would help me against my family. I had searched and tried to find any information on him, but I came up with nothing, which left Anna my last resort. I didn't want her to get hurt again, but if I didn't find this out, there would be no way out of this situation.

Anna opened the door, and when she saw Brittany a smile spread across her face. She glanced at me, as if she wanted me to confirm who it was. I just smiled shyly and shrugged, looking back to Brittany.

"You must be the famous Brittany! It's so nice to meet you, now that Santana has decided not to keep you to herself. Not that I blame her." She looked Brittany over and we both blushed.

"Anna!" I exclaimed, but she merely chuckled.

"Oh hush, you know it's true. Anyway, I wasn't aware that we were having company." If the smile hadn't stayed firmly on her face, I would have thought that she was annoyed, but I could tell that she was only curious as to why Brittany was with me, when she knew what I wanted to talk about.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I told Brittany everything and will continue to do so. I figured that it wouldn't hurt for her to be here when we talk about everything."

"Not at all," she shook her head, but seemed a little cautious.

She moved aside and we walked into the house with me leading us into the living room. I sat on the sofa, and Brittany sat down next to me, leaving Anna to sit in the seat opposite us.

She asked if we wanted a drink, and when we said no she clasped her hands in her lap and asked "What exactly do you want to know then?"

"Everything," I said and she gave me a look to continue, but I didn't and she sighed.

"You and Rico were already born when I started working for your family. You were about six months old, and constantly in need of attention, as babies are. When I had got in touch with your parents about the job, I had thought that it was just housekeeping, however they soon told me that I would be a nanny as well. They said that I would look after Rico at times, but it was mainly you I would have to keep an eye on. I accepted it, of course; the pay was good and the work didn't seem too hard. I was confused as to why they wanted me, considering I hadn't had any previous experience with children, but quickly dismissed the thought; why look a gift horse in the mouth?"

She smiled "it was normal for a while; your parents would be at work a lot, and your brother in school, so I just had to look after you and clean the house mainly. I noticed that there was some tension though, between your mother and father, and then your father and yourself. I also heard the name Justin a few times, but not much else."

I sat up straighter. She cleared her throat and continued "as you got older though, they seemed to get more protective of you, and didn't worry so much about talking with me around. They wanted to keep someone away from you, and vice versa, and didn't want them to see you at all. They talked about you and debated on what to tell someone, but when they realised that I was listening, they quickly stopped. The name Justin popped up there too, a few times."

"I don't know much else, when it comes to your father. I just know that his first name is Justin. Your dad doesn't like him, and your mother would clam up whenever he was mentioned. I don't know why they pretended that Enzo was your biological father, or where your biological father is now. They didn't mind talking about the family business around me, but when it came to this, it was strictly off limits. I think that he scares them. I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful."

She shrugged sadly, but I hurried to reassure her, "no, not at all. You've been so helpful, and this is much more than I knew before." I looked at Brittany and smiled reassuringly before I said "I need to go home again, to try to find out more about him."

"No," Anna stated. "Absolutely not."

"Santana, we agreed that you need to stay safe and away from them. This is the complete opposite of both of those things," Brittany said, gripping my hand tightly in her own.

"I need to do this. There's no other way that I will find out anything about him. You said it yourself; they kept quiet about him. I need to look through my parents' stuff and try to find something, anything, about him."

"You know how dangerous it will be. You can't do it." Anna moved forward in her seat, trying to make me understand her point.

"Then help me. You're working today, right?" at her nod I continued "drive me into the garage – I can hide in your car – and then I'll look around the house. You'll be the only one in there, right? Nothing will go wrong, I promise."

She sighed "I'm only going to do this because I know that you'll do it anyway, whether you get my help or not."

I nodded and jumped up, hugging her. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>I shifted under the blanket, moving it a bit to get more air, as I felt the car move over another bump in the road. We were just coming up to the house, and I felt the car stop and heard the window move down.<p>

Anna talked to the guard, and I heard his footsteps move around the car, the gravel crunching underfoot. I held my breath and stayed completely still, and after a few seconds I felt the car shift into gear and start moving again.

I didn't dare move until we were in the garage and Anna had opened the door for me. Pulling the blanket off, I sat up and looked around, deciding that I may as well start off in the garage, knowing that my father had stored files there in the past.

I let Anna know that she was alright to go off and do what she needed, as I started looking, coming across nothing but some questionable chemicals. There was a box, shoved into the back corner of the garage, and I wandered over to it, keeping an eye out for anything else suspicious. Pulling back the lid, I saw photographs and pieces of paper scattered about inside, looking as if they were shoved in there in a rush.

I picked a picture up and saw that it was an old family picture; Rico and I were in the front, with Rico sat on a chair and me on his lap, his arms wrapped tight around my waist to prevent me from falling. Rico was ten. My parents each had a hand on his shoulder, and everyone was smiling broadly at the camera.

I smiled sadly, remembering the time when we were kids and Rico was my big brother, protecting me from anything and everything. I wondered where I went wrong; surely he couldn't hate me so much, for something that wasn't even my fault. For something that I didn't choose. He was still my brother, even if it was only half.

I sighed and placed it back in the box gently, forgoing looking through it, because I could see that it was other pictures of me, and my school reports. They had taken everything that they could find of me, and shoved it in a box. My whole life; in one box.

I stood up and brushed my jeans off, stepping out of the garage and making my way to my father's study. I had already looked in there once, but that time I hadn't known what I was looking for.

Searching through his drawers, I pulled out lots of folders and looked through each one, but found nothing with Justin's name in or on it. I remembered the safe that I had found before and tried to open it, but every code I entered failed, and I couldn't think of anything else it could be. It was most likely something to do with the 'family' business.

I made my way to my parents' room and looked around slowly, unsure of where I should start looking. I didn't really know my mom all that well, and so didn't know where she would even begin to imagine hiding something related to my biological father, if she in fact even owned anything. Since I had found out about the affair my mom had had, I couldn't help but think that she resented my existence for ruining her 'perfect' family. The way she acted towards me suddenly seemed to make more sense.

I knew that she wouldn't have chosen an obvious hiding place, or somewhere that Enzo would look, because he would be sure to go crazy if he found it. I started in her wardrobe, knowing that while it was fairly obvious, he would have been put off by the amount of shoes she owned.

I couldn't find anything, until I came to her 'feminine product' box and realised that that would be the perfect place to hide something from a guy; males were scared of the female body and our 'time of the month', right?

Opening it, I pulled the various things out and then found a thin white envelope at the bottom of the box. I looked at the back of it, but it was clear from writing, just coloured slightly from age, with the edges folded and worn.

I slowly flipped the edge open and looked inside, finding a polaroid photograph and some folded lined paper. Taking both out, I placed the paper on the floor and studied the picture.

It was of my mother and a man. The man was tanned and had short dark brown hair, brown eyes and some light stubble. They were standing side by side with their arms wrapped around each other, looking happy. I turned it around and saw '1994' scrawled on the back of it.

Placing that face up on the floor, I picked up the paper and unfolded it, flattening it out on the ground. It was a neatly handwritten letter and had a return address on the top, and it looked like great care had been taken while writing it. Either that or the person had impeccable handwriting.

While it looked like the person writing it had done so carefully, I could tell that it had been looked at repeatedly; the crease marks were pronounced, with the words rubbing off in places, and what looked like dried tear marks.

_Dearest Maribel, _

_I know that it is more than likely that you will not read this, whether that is by your own doing or Enzo's. I also understand that I may have written this out and potentially angered Enzo for nothing, but I had to tell you this…even if it's just to make myself feel better and as if I haven't left everything as it was. I want to have fixed something before I leave for good. _

_I am more thankful than you will ever know for letting me see Santana once before I left. That one time was the highlight of my life, and I suspect that it will continue to be until the day I die. I know that it was the only time I will ever get to see her, and I will have to accept that, but I've got the rest of my life to do so. She was utterly perfect, and I envy Enzo for getting the chance to have both you and Santana, especially when he does not appreciate either of you._

_I hope that I haven't upset you by this, as that is not my intention. I love you both, and while I am heartbroken that I cannot experience life with either of you, I knew that that would happen. _

_I understand why you told Enzo that Santana is my daughter. Granted, it took a while, but he has a right to know, just as I did. I'd much rather know that she is my daughter, and miss her, than not know at all. I also couldn't expect you to keep this secret for me – and truthfully, I never expected you to. It would be selfish of me to want you to hold onto that for all of your life, and would be a terrible thing for me to ask. _

_And, while you've told Enzo the truth, I know that that doesn't mean you will tell Santana; in fact, I agree with that. You should let her believe that Enzo is her father, and not tell her anything about me. I know that my wishes and what I tell you will not sway you in the slightest, but to tell her about a father that she will never get to see or hear anything of would be inhumane. The heart wants what it can't have – haven't I experienced that? – and if Santana knew of her origins, she would want to know about me, if not see me, and that just isn't possible. My greatest wish is for Santana to be happy, and knowing that she is missing out on something; knowing that she is a prisoner in her own home, will not help with that endeavour. I also understand that whether Santana knows or not, is not up to you or I, but to Enzo. I just hope that he learns to love her, and understands that everyone's lives will be easier if she remains ignorant of the mistakes of her family. And that's not to say that she is a mistake; she definitely isn't – she's nothing less than perfect – but our decisions and the ways we have treated each other are. I will always feel ashamed that this is the way things turned out, and that I betrayed Enzo in one of the worst ways, but I just hope that I can learn to forgive myself and do things that will right the wrongs, or at least somewhat make up for them. _

_I will constantly wonder about both you and Santana; what you look like, how you're getting on, what you've learnt, how he treats you, but I know that none of that is possible. This is likely the last time we will communicate, and knowing that is torture, but I'm just thankful that I won't be altogether ignorant. Enzo, or someone who works for him - because that is our deal - will keep me updated on Santana, and as long as she is safe, I will stay away. _

_I'd hope for pictures of her, but I know that would be a wasted hope. I sincerely hope that you both stay safe, and that Enzo treats you as you deserve. The man that I knew must reside in there somewhere – he can't be all bad – and so I hope that his family will be able to bring out the good in him. _

_Again, thank you for allowing me to see Santana one time; you will never know how much joy that brought me._

_Yours Sincerely, _

_Giustino Belvedere_

I wiped my eyes, surprised at the emotion it brought out in me. I didn't remember ever having met him – of course I wouldn't, I must have been only just born – but knowing that he had seen me let me rest a little easier. I just hoped that the fatherly feelings he felt towards me in his first visit still remained, and that he would be willing to help me.

I didn't know why he was being updated on my wellbeing, but if that was still happening, maybe he knew that I wasn't living with them anymore. Although, I can't imagine they would actually tell him that; the information they provided him with seemed to be with the aim to keep him away.

I suddenly felt doubt. What if it hadn't? What if the information they provided him with wasn't enough, and he came back to check on me? What if I saw him, but never realised who it was, because I never knew the truth?

I placed the letter back on the floor and picked the picture up, studying it even closer than before. No, I was sure I hadn't seen him before. He was handsome, which partly explained why my mother seemed to fall for him in the first place, and had a face that I was sure to remember. My memory was great; it had to be, for me to be Head Cheerio.

I could see the love for my mother in his eyes now, and I was happy to know that I wasn't just a mistake, born out of impulses and a one-night stand. He loved her, and while I couldn't be sure and say the same about my mother, it was nice knowing that my parents had some kind of caring relationship, no matter how brief.

I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the photo and letter, as well as storing the address that was written on the top of the letter. Now that I had his name and address - although I was a little unsure of whether his name was Justin or Giustino - I could start trying to find him.

I packed everything back up as it was and made my way to Anna, who was cleaning in the living room.

"Hey," I announced my presence and she turned and smiled at me before she continued cleaning.

"Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, an old letter with his address on. It's a start; I'm hoping I'll be able to track him down. I'm going to send a letter to the address, to see if they know anything about where he is."

She nodded and turned to face me "that's good. I really hope it works out, Santana. I'm almost finished here, so I can take you home in a minute."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"So…that was Brittany," she grinned and moved to the other room, so I followed her.

"What did you think?" I asked anxiously, wanting more than anything for her to approve of her.

"She's lovely. She seemed like a great girl, and you're cute together."

"I-what?" I asked, confused.

"Well you're a couple, yes?"

"We…how did you know?" I answered, not wanting to lie to her, nor seeing the need to do so anyway.

"Anyone with eyes can see the way you look at her. And the way she looks at you, as well. You both seem head over heels for each other. It's sweet."

"You really think so?" I grinned, happy that I had my second mom's blessing.

"Of course. And don't think that you're getting off light; I want to hear everything about how you met, and came to be. Plus, I expect a more formal introduction and dinner; I'll invite you both around one night, alright?"

"That would be lovely," I grinned.

"Great. Okay, I'm done now."

Anna packed up everything and then walked to the garage with me trailing her, putting me in the same position in her car as before. We left with no trouble, no one caring about who leaves the premises, and I sat back up in the car, looking out of the window while filling Anna in on Brittany on the drive home.

She pulled up outside of Brittany's house and I leaned into the front, giving her a quick hug and thanking her for everything she had done. I walked up the pathway and waved back at Anna, smiling and feeling more hope than I had recently. Everything would be okay, I could just feel it.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for staying and reading this far!

Please review and let me know what you think :)

I have a tumblr at imaginebrittana, if you want to check it out :)


	18. Chapter 18

**A.N.** Thank you again to _Alex Ryzlin Gold_, _Alloverme_ and _knowthescore_ for reviewing! And to _NoNamesNoPain_, _YouCanCallMeSly_ and _elypelfy_ for the messages :)

My beta deserves the biggest thanks ever for editing it in the shortest time I've ever seen and for actually understanding what I mean :D So thank you loadsss _'veiledgreyskies'_ :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 18<span>

I was leaning against Brittany's locker, watching everyone pass as she gathered the books that she needed. I had driven with Brittany to school, partly because I lived with her, and partly because I was still sticking by my offer of taking her where she needed. Her bicycle had arrived a few weeks ago, and she had told me that she had been riding it to school in the time that we weren't speaking. But now her bike was forgotten in the garage, only being used by her mom on occasion.

We walked down the hallway toward my locker, arms linked between us and smiles on our faces. I was trying not to smile, knowing that I needed to uphold my reputation even more now that everyone knew I had been beaten up by someone, but Brittany wasn't helping with that matter. Every time I glanced at her, I was compelled to smile, and even the feel of our arms linked together made me beyond happy.

We stopped at my locker and I found the books I needed, placing them in my bag, then shutting it and turning to Brittany once again. I looked over Brittany's shoulder and saw some Cheerios walking towards us, laughing with each other.

I looked back at Brittany and smirked, continuing our conversation, "I've got English Language now, with Kurt and Blaine. They're sat in front of me, and their unresolved sexual tension makes it hard to get anything done. I'm just glad it's not Lit, because…"

I stopped talking, as I heard Brittany's name uttered from behind her, and by the slight turn of her head, I knew that she had heard it too. "-as dumb as dirt; as poor as it, too." The girl's voice was nasally and the two others she was with laughed along, their voices loud in my ears, taunting me.

Brittany looked down at the floor, her head tilted away from them and toward the lockers. They were walking past us as I reached out and pushed the girl who had spoken away from her group and into the lockers on the other side of the hallway.

Her friends helped her up and I stalked over to them, backing them up against the lockers. I felt Brittany's hand on my arm and she whispered "San…leave it."

I shook my head and shrugged her arm off, taking another step closer. "What did you just say?"

I saw them look at each other, then at the crowd forming around us. She gulped, but then set her shoulders and stepped so we were toe to toe. "I said that…" she looked at Brittany then promptly away, looking slightly guilty at the tears I knew were in her eyes. "That she's got to be as dumb as a post, to be friends with you."

"That's real funny," I chuckled sarcastically "because the smartest thing to come out of your mouth was a dick; how much jizz did you have to swallow to become that stupid?"

Her face reddened and she lunged at me, but her friends held her back. I glanced at them briefly before looking into her face and stepping up to her, pressing her against the lockers and holding my arm just under her neck.

"Now," I started, "I don't know why you've only just decided to be a bitch to Brittany all of a sudden, but you're going to stop it. I'm captain; one word from me and you're off the team." I looked away and took a deep breath, hating what I was going to do, but knowing how averse Brittany was to violence. "I'm not going to hit you right now, because I don't want to risk improving your face, but I won't be so mindful next time. So, I suggest that you keep your muzzle shut from now on, alright?"

I stepped away from her and watched as her friends let go, but hovered near enough to be able to stop her if she tried anything. She nodded meekly at me, muttering a "yes, Captain," before walking away, her two friends trailing behind her.

I turned back to Brittany, picking my bag up off the ground in front of my locker, then looking up into her eyes slowly. I was unsure of how she would react, but I couldn't just stand by as they insulted her. That's not how I worked, and I wouldn't let anyone make Brittany feel bad about herself; she deserved more than that, and I would be sure to do my best to make sure she got it.

We were stood in silence for a few seconds, noise surrounding us but not seeming to reach our ears. She shouldered her bag, then reached out for me, pulling me in to a hug and burying her face into my neck.

"Thank you," she murmured and I pulled back slightly, so I could look into her face.

"For what? I thought that you'd be angry at me?"

"No one's ever stood up for me before."

I faintly heard the bell ring, but didn't move, too invested in the conversation happening at that moment.

"I wasn't going to let them get away with hurting you, Britt."

She shrugged and looked away, "you should have; it's not like they were lying or anything."

"What? Of course they were lying." She didn't look at me, so I gently grabbed her chin and titled her head, making her look at me, so she could see how sincere I was "you're the smartest person I know, and you don't even realise it." She didn't look convinced, so I tried "do you think I would lie to you? I care about you too much to do that, especially after what happened last time. You really are, Britt and I lo…I loathe it when people convince you that you aren't."

"You really think so?" she mumbled, looking into my eyes.

"One hundred percent."

"Okay," she nodded and hugged me once more before letting go completely.

I looked around the hallway and noticed for the first time just how quiet it was. Everyone had already left for their lesson.

"We better get to class now, B, but I'll see you after, okay?"

She nodded and smiled before walking to her class, the opposite direction that I had to go. I looked at my watch and sighed, dreading the lesson and the teacher I had. She was a bitch when I was on time, let alone when I was late.

Making a quick decision, I opened my locker and placed my books back inside, then made my way to the back of the school, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to skip the lesson; I'd already missed half of it anyway.

I was walking around the side of the school, towards the football field when I saw someone step out from the dumpster in front of me. I stopped walking as Puck stepped into my line of sight, cocking my head to the side as I smirked, asking "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You think that you're better than me and everyone else, don't you? Parading around as if you own the place. Well, you don't, and you'll know that soon enough."

"What are you talking about, Puck?" I took a sidestep around him, but he quickly blocked my movements, shoving his hands into his pockets as he did so.

He ignored my question and continued "your father agrees with me, which is why I'm going to get a lot of money for this."

I frowned, wondering what he was talking about, but the mention of Enzo stirred some worry in me; enough for me to enter Puck's mind and dive out of the way just in time, his fist sailed past my head and I jumped back, farther away from him.

"What do you plan to do? Kill me?" I asked with a slight laugh, knowing that Puck was a lot of things, but a killer wasn't one of them.

The knife that he pulled out of his pocket and flipped open answered my question. I stopped laughing and felt my face morph into one of seriousness, keeping myself placed in his mind, enough so that I could stop him if he attempted to do anything.

"How are you going to get money out of killing me?" I tried again, trying to distract him.

"You really don't know?" he laughed. "Oh, this gets better and better. Your family have sent out a hit on you…a lot of money as well. Take that however you want it."

I started rooting through his memories, trying to find when he had found out about this. He seemed to realise what I was doing, as he jumped toward me and grabbed my jacket, smashing me up against the dumpster.

There was a shout from my right, and I turned my head to see Coach Beiste running toward us, an angry look on her face. She grabbed Puck's shoulder and pushed him away from me, keeping ahold of the wrist holding the knife.

"Are you okay?" she asked me, her eyes looking me over for any injuries. When I nodded, she turned back to Puck and made him release the blade, the sound of it clattering to the floor ringing in my ears.

She grabbed the knife and Puck and dragged him into the school, neither of them looking back at me. I watched them go, then when they were out of sight, bent down to pick up my bag and walked back the way I had come, making sure not to cross their path again.

The ringing of my phone startled me out of my mindless walking, shrill in my ears. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the ID, seeing that Brittany was calling.

Answering it, I made sure to keep my voice even and light, to avoid worrying her. "Hey Britt, what's up?"

"I'm waiting outside your class, but you're not here; where are you?" she sounded concerned.

"I…I'll be at my locker in a minute, meet me there?"

"Sure," she replied and I hung up, knowing that I would see her in a minute anyway, face to face; where I would find it even harder to lie to her. Not that I ever gained anything from lying to her anyway.

She was already standing at my locker when I got there, looking up and down the corridor rapidly. When she saw me, she relaxed slightly and jogged to me, falling into step and spinning back around, continuing with me.

"Why weren't you in your lesson?"

"I'd already missed half of it," I shrugged "I didn't see the point of going in for the rest of it.

"So did I, but I still went. You should have told me, I would have skipped with you," she smiled.

"Nah," I shook my head. "I needed some…peace."

She looked slightly hurt, but then narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side slightly. "What happened?"

"I don't…nothing-" I stuttered, trying to decide whether I should tell her or not.

"Santana, please. You agreed to tell me everything. I want to help you. I know that you think you're protecting me by not telling me, but you're not; it's just hurting me more."

I sighed and pulled her into some toilets next to us, checking that it was empty before I looked into her eyes and told her "I skipped lesson and Puck found me. He got a knife out, but Beiste stopped him before anything could happen. He did say that my family have…sent out a hit on me though."

She looked shocked and slightly upset, so I grabbed her hands. "We don't even know that Puck was telling the truth, we don't need to worry about it yet. Anyway, I'm still looking for my dad, and if I find him, I'm sure we'll be safe from them; they're scared of him for a reason, right?"

She nodded, looking slightly reassured, so I pulled her into a hug, letting the embrace calm me us down.

* * *

><p>Brittany walked into the house with me following a step behind her. She paused by the door, until I had entered and closed it after me. We had stayed in school for the rest of the day, concentrating on our lessons and trying to avoid Puck or any of the other football players. We were constantly on guard, aware that anyone could have heard about the hit placed on me and would try to kill me at any time.<p>

I ran upstairs, depositing my bag and jacket in the bedroom, when Brittany called up the stairs to me. I jogged back down and she looked up at me, a letter held in her hand, her face slightly confused.

My heart started racing and my throat dried. There was no reason for me to get a letter, unless it was from the house my dad used to live in. When I had sent them the letter, I asked them to get back to me at this address, which it looked like they did.

I gently took the letter from Brittany and turned it over in my hands, examining it as I walked into the living room and sat on the sofa. Brittany sat next to me, but gave me enough space so that she wouldn't be in my way or be able to read anything. I fiddled with the seal of the envelope, trying to find the courage to open it.

I looked to Brittany and she smiled at me softly and encouragingly, so I took a deep breath and slipped my thumb under it, tearing it open. Pulling the letter out, I placed it on my lap, still unfolded, just noticing the shaking of my hands.

Brittany grabbed my hands in hers and stroked them with her thumbs, placing them atop the letter. "Are you sure you want to do this now? You can look at it whenever you want; it's waited this long. And it's not even guaranteed to have any information."

"That's what I'm worried about," I whispered and she nodded softly.

"I can go take a shower if you want?" she smiled and squeezed my hands slightly, letting me know that she'd do whatever I needed.

"Can you just stay here with me?" I asked quietly, almost ashamed that I needed her so much.

"Of course," She settled back into the seat and let go of my hands, so I could read the letter.

I smiled thankfully and turned back to the letter, unfolding it and smoothing it out. There was a smaller envelope in it, and I glanced at it before looking at the letter and the words printed there.

I read through it a few times, and when the words had sunk in, I looked back to the envelope. It had said that someone else had lived there after my father, and so they weren't in possession of a billing address for him. A few years ago though, they had a letter come through from a Justin Belvedere, asking them to give an envelope that he had enclosed to a family member of his if they came asking. They had kept it in a drawer somewhere, and had forgotten about it, but when they received my letter, they knew that I was the person he was talking about.

I passed Brittany the letter to read and picked up the smaller envelope, ripping it open and pulling out the letter as quickly as possible. I had already taken my time with the other letter, and this one was actually from my father, so it's not like there would be no news. I unfolded it and saw that there was only one thing written on the paper in blue in. A mobile number. I fiddled around with it and then saved it in my phone under 'Justin Belvedere', figuring that the ball was in my court now more than ever, but that I had enough time to phone him.

I knew that I was looking for him because I needed help against my family, and that the quicker I could ask him, the better my chances were, but I was worried. It's not even guaranteed that it was the right number, or that he'd be able to get here in time to help, but leaving it one day wouldn't hurt. I would think more on it later, but right now I just wanted to hang out with Brittany.

I took the letter from Brittany and placed that and the piece of paper I was holding on the table, before tucking my feet up under me and curling into Brittany's side, resting my head against her shoulder. She grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, flicking to a random channel and turning the volume low.

* * *

><p>I looked in the shop window as I walked down the street, but continued on, not seeing anything that stood out to me. I was by myself because I wanted to buy Brittany a present for being so amazing and caring, so I wanted to find something extra special. She was reluctant to let me go, because I refused to tell her what I was going for, in the end she finally agreed after a little bit of debating.<p>

I walked past a few more shops, seeing nothing of interest, but then spotted a jewellers down the road. I sped up a little, excited to see what they had, when a hand clamped over my mouth and an arm grabbed my waist, pulling me into an alley.

I screamed into the hand and kicked out, trying to dislodge whoever was holding me, but they didn't move. Like hell if I was going to get attacked as soon as I was left alone for a spare minute; Brittany would never let me out of her sight again.

I jabbed my elbow into their ribs, and they grunted a little but kept a tight hold of me. I groaned and then reached out with my mind when I felt something happening with my own and my body went slack.

They were holding me up and I grunted, scared of what was happening, when they let go and I took a step forward, turning around to face them. I was looking at him calmly and I wondered why; I turned around by myself, but a few seconds before I was ready to run as far away as possible.

I thought on it more until I looked at the man's face in front of me and froze. It was Justin. I choked out a laugh and smiled, happy that it was the person I had been searching for.

He looked much like he had in the picture, but was clearly much older. His hair was still black, but had grey streaks running through it, as was the same for his light stubble.

"Why did you grab me like that?" I asked, completely forgetting introductions.

"Santana," he smiled, I nodded and my heart leapt at the sound of him saying my name. He sounded so joyous to be finally saying it, and his eyes were sparkling with tears.

"Dad," I grinned. He surged forward and wrapped me in his arms, holding me tight and rocking me from side to side.

We stayed like that for a while, then he finally pulled away and I saw the tears tracks on his cheeks.

"The last time I saw you," he whispered "was when you were a baby, just born. I missed out on your childhood. I only have a couple of pictures, the most recent one a few days ago."

I nodded, but stayed silent, unsure of how to comfort a parent, let alone one that you hadn't seen for seventeen years. He seemed to understand that, as he smiled sadly. "I'm sorry for scaring you, but I can't be seen. We can go somewhere to talk though; there's a little diner a few blocks away that we can go to."

I nodded again and followed after him, a step behind as he traversed through some back streets. We quickly arrived at a diner and he stepped inside and held the door open for me. We both ordered our drinks and then he led me to a booth at the back, sitting on the side where he could see the door, right opposite him.

I slid into the other side and then fiddled with the lid of my drink, unsure of what exactly I should say. There was so much that needed to be said, but I didn't know where to begin.

"How did you know who I am?" he finally asked, still looking at me with the same expression of love on his face.

"I found out a few days ago when I overheard my…them talking about you," I fumbled over my words, unsure of how I should address them now, and he smiled, understanding my dilemma. "I looked through my mother's stuff and found a picture of the two of you and a letter from you."

He looked shocked as he murmured "I didn't think that she had read it; I thought that Enzo had ripped it up."

I shook my head softly and he smiled, clearing his throat and looking back at me properly. "Well…how much do you know about why you've never seen me, and why Enzo pretended to be your father?"

"Nothing," I shrugged.

He nodded like it didn't surprise him and took a deep breath. "Well, obviously when Enzo found out that he wasn't actually your father he was…angry, to say the least. And disappointed. He was looking forward to having a daughter, a little princess to protect. When he found out that it was me who was your father, he was even more devastated. I was his best friend, and to betray him in that way…I was horrible and selfish. The problem was, I wasn't only his best friend. I assume that you know about his side business?"

I nodded.

"I was basically the second in command of that – he trusted me with everything. When he found out about me and your mother, he never wanted to see me again, but knew that it wouldn't be possible with the way things were. He cast me out and set everyone against me, but still knew that that wasn't enough to keep me away. He knew that I loved you and your mother too much to just leave and never see you again, no matter the danger it would put me in to stay. So, he used you."

He stopped talking, but I was really confused. "What do you mean – he used me?"

"He knew how much I cared about you, so he used you as a blackmail type of thing. As insurance. If I left and never returned; if I didn't try to get back at Enzo, then he would keep you safe and raise you as if you were his own daughter. As long as you were in his care, you would be alright. I knew Enzo though, and knew that he wouldn't want to be confronted by something that reminded him of the betrayal he had suffered, every day, so I struck a deal with him. I would leave and never try to contact anyone in this town again, if he kept you safe and sent me proof that you were alive and updates every now and then. It was the best I could do, and at least I know that I was staying away for a reason."

"Why are you back now then?"

"Because I heard that he kicked you out, and knew that this was the time to act. You're not under his protection anymore, so I can do what I want and look after you like a father should. I always knew that while he provided you with all the material things you needed, you always lacked the love from a father. I want to try to make that up to you now."

"He's sent out a hit on me," I stated, not worrying about sugar coating it.

"When?" he sat up straighter and looked behind me out of the window, looking worried.

"Well, one of the boys in school, who I know works for him and Rico, tried to kill me this morning, so I'd hazard a guess at the weekend."

"Fuck," he ran a hand through his hair. "It looks like I got here just in time. Okay, you're going to have to come and stay with me for a while."

"I can't, I'm staying with my…friend."

"And how capable is your friend of protecting the both of you? What's this friend called?"

"Brittany. And we've managed to survive this far."

"Because of you or her? Because if you're anything like me, you're a little better than the rest at protecting yourself."

I opened and closed my mouth, so he sighed "okay, you can stay round hers tonight, but we're going to meet up again tomorrow to sort everything out, alright?"

I nodded, knowing that that was the best I was going to get, and he smiled happily at me. "Okay, I'll give you my phone number, so you can phone me when you get up tomorrow to organise it."

"I already have it. I sent a letter to your old house, and they sent me an envelope with the number inside."

"Okay, great. Well, we've been here long enough, so I'll see you tomorrow. Will you be alright getting back?"

I nodded as we stood up from the table, and he pulled me into a brief hug.

"You leave now, I'll go a minute after you. See you tomorrow, Santana."

"See you," I smiled and left without looking back, wondering how I was going to tell Brittany half of what had just happened.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N. <strong>Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. I can't help but think that Fanfiction have fucked me over by showing the amount of follows and favourites your story has. I wish they'd stop changing everything.

Please review and let me know what you thought :)

I'm on tumblr at imaginebrittana.


	19. Chapter 19

**A.N.** I'm sorry for the delay! I took a week off updating so I could edit and rewrite chapters 1 and 2, which is now done. It's not as different in terms of plot, but Santana is less mean and Brittany less dumb, because that's not how they're portrayed in the rest of this story, even though that's how the first chapters made it seem. So, you don't need to go back and read them, because it won't make any difference to the rest of the story :) This is a longer chapter to try to make up for it though :)

Thank you to _Alex Ryzlin Gold_ and _BiaSilveira_ for the reviews! And to _elfypelfy_, _Thundering_ _Ice_ and _Pepper6 _for the messages :)

And, as always, a giant thank you to **veiledgreyskies** for being an amazing beta! :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 19<span>

The house was silent, with everyone else either at work or school, and I was enjoying the peace that it brought. The night before, we had talked and decided to skip school; after what had happened yesterday, we thought that it was safer to stay home rather than risk being attacked again.

I nudged the door open with my foot, balancing the tray in my hands as I made my way over to the bed and placed it on top of the cabinet. Brittany was laying on her back, still asleep, so I jumped on the bed and crawled over, so that I was hovering above her. I lowered myself down so I could peck her on the nose, and then the rest of her face when that didn't wake her up. I felt her eyelashes flutter against my cheek and grinned, moving back a little as I watched her eyes open tiredly.

"What're you doing?" she asked through a yawn, squinting up at me.

"Look, sit up," I helped her move the pillows behind her back, and then when she was ready I took the tray and placed it on her lap.

She was silent and I fiddled with the single daisy in a vase, suddenly feeling inexplicably shy. She had done plenty of nice things for me before, but this was one of the only things I had made to show her that I cared.

"San," she murmured and I looked up into her face, smiling almost bashfully. "Such an amazing girlfriend," she breathed out, her eyes sparkling brightly.

My eyes widened and I stuttered out "girlfriend?"

"Oh…uh…I mean, if you want. I didn't-it just," she stammered, her eyes wide and hands gripping either side of the tray on her lap.

I smirked, not used to seeing her so unsure and nervous. It was cute. And also something that she shouldn't be worried about, because I also thought of her as my girlfriend, even though we hadn't actually talked about it before.

"Britt," I cut her off, and she silenced immediately. "I'd love to be your girlfriend."

"Really? Even after that?"

"Even after that," I grinned.

She leant over to kiss me, so I let her before pulling back "you better eat that before it gets cold."

"Only if you help."

I moved to her side and burrowed into her, content to just lay in her arms for the day, accepting the forkfuls she offered me every now and then. When she finished it, she placed the tray on the floor and then scooted down the bed slightly, so she was resting on the pillows, her arms wrapped around my waist.

"San?"

"Hmmm?" I looked up to her, resting my chin on her shoulder.

"Are we going to tell anyone about us?"

I shifted, pushing myself up and leaning on my elbows. "Do you want to tell people about us?"

"Well, I don't know…it would be nice to not have to hide what we have. I'm proud to be your girlfriend, and I want everyone to know it."

"So am I," I nodded. "Is there anyone in particular that you want to tell first?"

She looked at me, slightly dubious, so I smiled reassuringly and sat up, trying to show her that I was being serious about it.

"We're good friends with Quinn," she suggested with a shrug.

I nodded, thinking it over. If there was one person who I would trust enough to not freak out over it, and support us, it would be Quinn. She had already hinted that she knew and was fine with it, so I couldn't imagine her mind having changed so fast.

"Quinn's the perfect person to tell," I smiled and Brittany beamed back, even happier than she was a minute ago.

"Great! What about…I'm not saying that we have to tell them or anything, but what about my family?"

"Oh." I hesitated, unsure of what to say. I thought back to how my family had always been horribly homophobic and how I wanted Brittany to stay safe and have somewhere to live. "It's just…my family aren't-uh."

"I know what you're saying, San, but my family aren't like that. They were fine when I told them that I like girls as well."

"They know?" I asked and she nodded "Well, when did you tell them? How did you know?"

"I've just always kind of known, the same with my parents. They never assumed that I was straight, but kept an open mind. I didn't even really 'come out', I mean telling my mom that I had a girlfriend when I was seven kind of clued her in to that fact. They were really good about it and have always trusted me to have sleepovers and stuff, they know that I don't _like_ every girl and boy that I see, and so I've been able to have sleepovers with both. At separate times though," she grinned.

"So, do you think that if she knew that we're together, she'd still let me stay here?"

"Of course!" Brittany seemed slightly surprised. "They love you, Santana. Finding out that we're dating wouldn't change that in the slightest…in fact, they'd probably like you more because of it."

I smiled and nodded, thinking it through, but was interrupted suddenly as a memory assaulted my mind.

_We skip down the pathway to my house, holding hands and laughing at the joke the boy across the road had just told us. My door opens and my dog runs out, charging at us. I drop to my knees and he launches himself at me, landing on my chest and pushing me to the grass, licking my face._

"_Gizmo!" I squeal, trying to push him off me. _

_My friend laughs and captures his attention; he leaps off of me and to my friend, jumping on her until he gets the attention he desires. We sit on the grass and play with him for a while, until my mom walks out of the house and strolls over to us._

"_Brittany, you better come in for dinner now. And your friend, if she wants; are you going to introduce us?"_

_I nod my head eagerly and spring up, pulling her with me as I exclaim proudly "Momma, this is my girlfriend, Sarah!"_

_I saw my mom smile and she shook Sarah's hand, saying "it's very nice to meet you, Sarah."_

I blink and Brittany comes into focus, her eyes and mouth wide open. When she notices that I'm looking at her, she exclaims "San, your eyes!"

"What?" I ask, perplexed.

"They…I don't know, they were weird. They went completely black, like, the whites of your eyes as well, but slowly, like spreading ink."

"Wow…I didn't know that happened. I received a memory though, which must be the reason why. I'll have to talk to my father about it and see if he knows anything."

"Really? What was the memory about?"

"It was one of yours, actually," I offered, slightly worried to do so. She knew what I could do, but I was worried that it would hit a little too close to home for her, and seem too invasive. "It was what you were talking about just now. Your dog, Gizmo, was there and you told your mom that Sarah was your girlfriend."

She smiled fondly at the memory, "I miss Gizmo; he was awesome. You know, I chose the name. I loved Gremlins, and Gizmo was my favourite character ever; so cute. We got the dog and he looked just like him, so I asked to name him Gizmo and my parents agreed. It really suited him as well."

"I loved that film. I watched a lot of films through my childhood, and even when I was a teenager, but that was one of my absolute favourites. Mainly because we acted like a proper family when we watched that and my dad let me cuddle with him." I shrugged and looked down, blinking back the tears in my eyes.

"Oh, Sweetie," Brittany murmured, reaching out and wiping away a tear that had escaped. I felt more fall and she guided me up, kissing away each one that trailed down my face.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," I sniffled, drawing back and rubbing at my eyes. "It's pathetic, there's no reason-"

"Of course there's a reason," Brittany sat up completely and crossed her legs, pulling at my hands until I did the same. "You lost your family, and this is the first time you've let yourself cry about it. Crying is nothing to be ashamed about, it's healthy, every once in a while. You have people who care about you, you know that, right?"

I smiled and nodded, leaning in to kiss her. "Thank you."

"There's nothing to thank me for."

"There's everything to thank you for," I disagreed.

She laughed a little and shook her head, knowing that she wouldn't be able to disagree with me, and leaned in to kiss me again. "So, when are we going to tell Quinn?"

"Whenever you want. I have to talk to my father, Justin, today, but I need to phone him to set up a time."

"How about we text her to come over after school?"

"Sure," I nodded. "You text her now and I'll phone my dad and ask him when he wants to meet."

I stood up and placed my phone on the tray I brought up to Brittany, pecking her lips before taking the tray to the kitchen. I placed it on the counter, then picked my phone up and scrolled through the contacts, finding 'Justin' and pressing the call button.

It rang a few times before he answered "hello?"

"Hi, it's Santana. I was wondering when you wanted to meet up?"

"I'm free all day, so whenever is fine with you."

"How about for lunch? There's a little diner around the corner from here."

"Lunch is perfect, but I want to see what Brittany's house is like, so we'll meet there, if that's alright?"

"Sure," I sighed, knowing that Brittany would agree straight away.

* * *

><p>Brittany and I finished setting the table, ready for when my father would arrive. I didn't know what kind of person he was and how he liked to eat, so I figured it was safer to use the table than to eat at the sofa. We had ordered pizza and were waiting for that to arrive as well.<p>

I wasn't sure whether Brittany would want to stay there or not while he was there, but she insisted on it and it was her house. I didn't mind her staying anyway; I'd end up telling her everything that had happened after if she didn't, so it was easier.

The bell rang and Brittany looked at me, appearing nervous.

"It's fine, Britt. Don't worry about it, he'll love you."

She nodded, so I walked to the door and opened it, Brittany a step behind. Justin was stood there, so I smiled and stepped aside, inviting him in.

"Hi," he smiled, closing the door and then clasping his hands in front of him.

Hey. Britt, this is my dad, Justin. Justin, this is Brittany."

They both smiled and said hello to each other, looking back to me for guidance. I shifted, slightly worried that I'd do something wrong if I was left to lead this meeting, but stood up a little straighter and told him "we've ordered pizza, if that's alright with you; are you allergic to anything?"

"That's alright. And no, I'm not."

"Okay, well we're going to eat in the dining room. It's all set out, so we just have to wait for the pizza. I led him into the kitchen to offer him a drink when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Brittany rushed out, probably worried that she'd be left with my dad, with nothing to talk about.

As soon as she had left the room, he asked "why is she here?"

"It's her house; I thought that you wanted her here?"

"No, I need to talk to you about things and can't do that with her here."

"I'll tell her everything that you tell me, so yes you can; you can trust her."

"What does she know?" he sounded panicked and his eyes were wide, imploring for an answer.

"Everything," I said, just as Brittany walked back into the kitchen, carrying the pizza.

She seemed to sense the tension and noticed that he didn't have a drink yet. "Would you like a drink, Mr Belvedere?"

"I'll just have a water, please."

She looked to me, so I quickly filled a glass up and passed it to him, taking the pizza from Brittany and moving into the dining room. I placed it on the middle of the table then took a seat as Brittany took the one next to me, leaving Justin sitting in the seat opposite us. We served ourselves the pizza and then started eating.

The silence was broken every now and then by an odd question from my dad for Brittany, and she answered each one with a smile and chirp in her voice. He relaxed in his seat after a while, and started talking to Brittany properly, seemingly having forgotten his previous worry that she couldn't be trusted.

I was content to just relax over lunch and let them get to know each other, because at least then we weren't starting with the heavy stuff. I was also really happy that they seemed to get on well; I'd hate it if he didn't like Brittany.

We finished the food and he took a long sip of his drink, placing it on the table and clasping his hands in front of him.

"Santana, I want you to live with me."

"What? No way," I shook my head.

Brittany shook her head too, but stayed silent, grabbing my hand under the table to show her support.

"I looked around the house before I came in; it's not well enough protected to keep you safe. Anything could happen to you here."

"Nowhere is well enough protected to keep me safe. I'm happy here."

He tapped his fingers on the table unknowingly and I stared at him, realising that I do the same thing when I'm trying to think about something. "You're both really close, yeah?"

We nodded slowly and looked at each other, wondering where he was going with that.

"This will be safer for you both. You'll be with me, Santana, so I can protect you. They're scared of me and don't even know that I'm back yet, so we have that advantage. And Brittany will be safer; you're the one with the hit on her head, and as long as you stay with Brittany, you'll put her in danger."

I shook my head, refusing to believe everything that he was saying. "But they already know that we're best friends, and so surely they'd try to get to her anyway, regardless of whether I'm with her or not. You said it yourself, I can defend myself more than others. Brittany needs me here to help her, _if_ something does happen."

I gripped Brittany's hand and turned to look at her, unsure of what to do. I didn't want to be selfish and put Brittany in danger, just because I didn't want to be away from her, but I also didn't want to put her in danger by leaving her side.

She shrugged slightly, letting me know that it was my decision, and I sighed, hating it.

He continued, knowing that we were thinking about it and that it probably wouldn't take much more to convince me. "I've missed out on so much of your life, and I'd like to make up for it and get to know you as soon as I can. There's also a lot of things that I need to teach you about how you can protect yourself. You don't know how many times I've wished that I could even see you, and now that I'm here with you, I just want to spend as much time with you as possible, and I don't want to cut that short by being irresponsible and letting you stay here when I know that it's not safe."

I looked down, feeling guilty for effectively choosing Brittany over him, and sighed, toying with her fingers. "Can't Brittany come with us? I mean, only if she wants to, but isn't that safer for everyone?"

Brittany squeezed my hand and nodded agreeing with me.

"It would be too obvious that something is happening. If Brittany suddenly moves away from her parents, it'll be obvious that not everything is normal, and we need to try to stay under the radar as much as possible at the moment." He looked from both of our faces, then added "Fine, I'll tell you what; we'll do it how I said before; Santana will come to live with me. You can still see each other as much as possible. You can even go to school and see her there if you want, and then come round here after school. If it doesn't work out or something happens, we'll talk about Brittany moving in with us."

I glanced at Brittany and she nodded, so I looked back at him and agreed "okay. When do you want me to move in then?"

"I don't have a place set up for the moment, but I will by Friday, so then. You'll still have to stay home from school for the time being though, I need to sort some stuff out and teach you things."

I nodded and started clearing the table of the plates, glad to be done with that conversation. I wasn't entirely happy with the conclusion, but knew that it was the best I would get, with how protective he was being at the moment.

Brittany helped and we carried the dishes to the kitchen, with him following behind.

He cleared his throat behind me and announced "I better get going then."

"Wait!" I turned around and reached out, grabbing his arm. "I was hoping that we'd be able to talk a little longer. We've got the business out of the way, but I really want to hear more about you. Unless you have to be somewhere?"

"No, that's alright, I can stay," he smiled, seemingly relieved.

"Great," I put everything in the sink to soak, then walked to the living room and sat on the sofa, Brittany taking a chair next to me this time, letting him sit on the sofa with me. I smiled thankfully at her, and she returned it before folding herself into the seat and making herself comfortable.

He sat down next to me and took a sip of his drink before asking "what do you want to know?"

"Anything. What were my family like when they were younger, before all of this happened? What started everything? What happened between you and my mother?"

"I'll start at the beginning then, I guess. My family are Italian, as you may have guessed by my name, but they moved to America before I was born. They wanted the best for me. The American dream, so they got together the money and paperwork and moved. They lived in New York for a while, but found that it was too busy and expensive for them, and so decided on Lima, Ohio. This was when my mother was pregnant with me, so from the moment I was born, I lived in Lima.

"I had a lot of friends and got on well with everyone at school, then Enzo moved in next door. We were six then, and we soon became best friends. It ended up with just Enzo as my friend really; he took all of my time and always got jealous if I hung around with someone else. He'd think of something to do to them, as revenge for 'stealing' me. He was more outgoing than me, which was good and meant that we got on better, because a lot of the time he would do the talking for me. We always went on 'adventures' with him in the lead, and he was a little trouble maker. Nothing bad, but just things that got him into trouble at school. He also had a little following, I guess you could call it. He was a very charismatic person, and so had all of the children following him around, wanting to be his friend. He wouldn't allow that, but he did use them to do his bidding. They would do whatever he wanted.

"I only met his parents a few times; they wouldn't let me around their house. Of course, Enzo snuck me in a lot, especially when they were out, but a lot of the time we just stayed at my house. I didn't realise how strange it was when I was a child, but I understand now why they were like that. I trust that you had the same experience; your friends weren't allowed round?"

I shrugged "I guess. I mean, I never really had enough friends to want to ask around, but when I was younger and asked for a sleepover or something, they said no."

He nodded "Enzo's parents were also in on the business. They passed it down onto him when he was old enough, but trained him throughout all of his life. It was only when he reached his teenage years though, that he knew what they were doing, and it became more intense. That's when he started acting out even more and got into a lot of fights. We were still best friends, and he always persuaded me that he was doing it for the right reasons; it wasn't very hard, because I didn't want to argue and go against him, so I pretty much just accepted whatever he said."

He leaned forward and took another sip from his drink, pausing before he started talking again. The glass was in his hands, being turned around slowly. "Then there's your mom. I haven't known her for as long; we met the first day of high school, in homeroom. She was with a few friends, but when she saw me looking her way she smiled and came over to say hello. I was shy, not used to talking to anyone, let alone a girl as pretty as your mother. She seemed to understand that, as she smiled then went back to her friends, saying that it was nice to meet me and that we would talk again.

"She had seemed so nice and quiet in that first meeting, and that drew me to her, but that wasn't just the case. She could stand up for herself, and I often saw her shouting at the jocks for doing something inappropriate. She was a real spitfire when she wanted to be.

"I talked to Enzo about her sometimes, said how there was this girl I liked. He told me to just ask her out and stop being a girl, but I was too scared; what if she said no? She was the first girl that I really liked, and I didn't want to ruin it as fast as it had started. Well, one day there was a house party and we all went there, and about half of the school. I decided to work up the guts and ask her out when we were there. We were talking and getting on really well, I was just about to broach the subject of asking her out when Enzo came up behind me and clapped me on the back, making me spill my drink all over myself. He laughed and told me to go clean myself up, so I did. When I got back, I found them making out."

He cleared his throat and placed his glass back on the table, blinking and turning his attention back to me. "I talked to him about it the next day and he said that he liked her. They got together and were so happy. They'd go everywhere together and a lot of the time, I'd end up being the third wheel. I swore to myself that I would step back and let them be happy. I think that you don't mess with other couples; don't cause that pain, ever. So, I just had to face the fact that it couldn't happen and walk away. Find someone available instead. I tried to find someone, but I was in love with your mom."

He had tears in his eyes, and then looked away for a few seconds. I could see him wiping his eyes and looked to Brittany, for guidance on what to do. She was better at comforting, but she just shrugged, looking sad. I placed my hand gently on his knee and said "I don't know why all this happened, obviously, but I think that she loved you too. She kept your letter and a photo of you two, which accounts for something, yeah?"

He looked back at me and nodded, smiling in thanks. "Well, it stayed like that for a long time, but then after a while we got closer, as is bound to happen when it's your best friend's girlfriend. We hung out and became great friends ourselves, but then one day we kissed. I pulled away straight after and ran home, hating myself for letting it happen. He was my best friend and I'd been selfish and kissed his girlfriend. I stayed in my house for a few days and refused to talk to either of them, scared that she had told him, but the lack of abuse at my front door persuaded me that she hadn't.

"She talked to me the day I came out of the house and told me that she hadn't meant to kiss me, but she was overwhelmed with everything. Enzo was never around and was acting weird. He was scaring her. I went to talk to him, to find out what was wrong, but he refused to tell me and pushed me away. He was my best friend and I wanted to know why he was suddenly acting so differently, so I followed him one night. He was in a dark alley, fighting with someone, so I rushed over, trying to help him. They both had knives, and when the other man saw me, he changed directions for me instead. I was scared and didn't know what I was doing, but something in my mind snapped. It was like…I was God. The man froze and I didn't know why, but when I moved so did he, like a mirror image. I realised that I was controlling his movements and I freaked out, breaking the spell of whatever had happened to me. That was enough time for Enzo to kill him though.

"I was scared and Enzo was curious; obviously something had happened to make the guy stop moving and copy my movements, so when he questioned me on it, I told him. It wasn't much, but it was everything that I knew, and he helped me out, telling me that now I would be one of them. I didn't know what he meant, but it soon became clear. I would help him out with anything that his dad wanted him to do. I didn't want to, but he told me that I had already helped kill someone, whether that was my intention or not, and so I would already be in trouble if the police found me. I agreed to it and drove home.

"My dad taught me everything that he knew about my power, and how best to handle it, but it was different than his; not one power is the same, however the basics of how to use it usually are, because it all has to do with the mind. He helped me out and I came to realise that I could get out of what Enzo had dragged me in to, if I wanted, so I voiced my concerns to him. Enzo was becoming more dangerous and power hungry. He was corrupt and didn't care about who he hurt. I warned him that he had to stop and shape up, or I wouldn't be able to be his friend anymore, but he ignored me. A few days later there was a fire at my house when I was at school, and both of my parents were dead. Enzo's family took me in."

I didn't know what to say; sorry wouldn't cut it, but he understood what I was thinking. He smiled and said "it was a mistake, there's nothing to be done about it now anyway, it was years ago. I have some pictures at home, if you'd like to see what they looked like?"

I nodded eagerly.

"Great. Well, not too much happened after that. I still didn't want to work for him, but I had no choice because I was living with his family. They were putting a roof over my head and providing me with food; there was nothing that I could do to escape it. I got a job and started saving in the hopes that I'd be able to get away sometime, but I didn't want to leave your mom with him, with no one to defend her. He got worse, and I didn't get to see her much because of how busy I was, but each time I did, I could feel the chemistry. He went away on a business trip one time, and told me to watch over her and make sure she didn't get into any trouble. He was incredibly possessive of her, and if a guy looked at her wrong he would go crazy, and he trusted me to make sure nothing like that happened to her. I swore that I would, and tried as hard as I could to ignore what I was feeling, but it got too hard one night. We both loved each other, but wanted to do right by Enzo, and so ignored our feelings. I pulled away from both of them and started working more, making sure I would have enough money to move out of his house and protect myself if the need ever arose."

* * *

><p>Brittany and I spent the time between when Justin had left and Quinn arrived relaxing and trying not to think too much on what we were about to do. I was sure that she would be happy for me and Brittany, but that still didn't stop the nerves that quaked through me whenever I thought of it.<p>

School was just ending, and so Quinn would be there soon. We were sat in the living room watching TV when Brittany spoke up "we don't have to tell her if you don't want to, you know?"

My brows furrowed "I know. Why do you say that?"

"You're really worried about it, and if you're not ready, I don't mind. We can wait for as long as you want."

"I'm ready Britt, but that doesn't mean that I'm not worried about what will happen. I can't wait to tell her that you're my girlfriend though, I'm proud of you and want everyone to see that. But…just one at a time, for the moment, if that's alright?"

"Of course." She leaned down to kiss me, so I gladly accepted it, turning to get a better angle. The sound of the television dulled in my senses as I focused on the feelings Brittany was causing, until the doorbell rang shrill in my ears. We pulled apart slowly and stood up, straightening our clothing – not that there was anything wrong with it in the first place – and walked to the front door.

Quinn was stood on the porch with her hands clasped in front of her, smiling uneasily. We invited her inside and she stepped in quickly, hanging her coat up on a peg.

"Is there something wrong?" she rushed out, "I've been worried all day; the text sounded like something bad had happened. And there's been rumours around school."

"Everything's fine," I said, looking at Brittany questioningly. She bit her lip and shrugged apologetically.

"So, you're not dying or anything?"

"We're not dying," I smirked.

Quinn nodded slowly, thinking it through. "Great. So…what was it you wanted me for?"

"Can we not just hang out?" I asked, wishing that I had looked at Brittany's text before, so I knew better how to approach the situation.

"We can, but the text said that you wanted to talk to me about something."

I looked at Brittany to answer, knowing that she was better with words and explanations than myself.

"Yeah, do you want a drink?" Quinn shook her head no, so we walked into the living room and sat on the sofa, leaving Quinn to sit in the chair next to us.

There was an uncomfortable silence – at least on my part – for a minute before Brittany broke it again. "You're our best friend, and so we uh…wanted to tell you something, before anyone else finds out," I could hear the nerves in her voice.

I watched her, unsure of what to do with Quinn sitting right there. I would've held her hand or something, but Quinn would be able to see. We were telling her anyway though. I decided that helping Brittany out, especially when she was doing this for both of us, was more important than potentially keeping our secret for a few more seconds, so I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly.

She looked over to me and squeezed back before continuing "Santana and I are going out. She's my girlfriend, and I am hers."

Quinn looked slightly surprised, but not shocked. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to say that?" she grinned.

"But we only just made it official today."

"Oh, I knew from practically the moment you two met, even if you yourselves didn't. Santana is so obviously whipped."

I made a noise in the back of my throat, but was unable to actually protest, knowing that she was most likely true.

"So, you said that you're telling me before anyone else; does that mean that you're going to tell the rest of the Glee club soon?"

Brittany shrugged and looked to me, so I said "no, not yet. We will, but I think that we want to explore this a little more, without anyone prying in – you know what they're all like."

"I do," Quinn nodded, "but they'll be happy for you. And I am too, you know that, right?"

"Of course we do, Quinn. Thank you," Brittany beamed, jumping up and pulling Quinn into a hug.

They rocked back and forth slightly and Brittany beckoned me in, but I shook my head, refusing to be quite so cheesy. She pouted and I looked away, ready to prove that I was not as whipped as Quinn believed, but they both grabbed a hand each and yanked me out of me seat. Their arms wound around me and it wasn't long until I accepted it, happy to feel accepted and loved.

My life was just starting to turn back around for the good, and I was determined to keep it that way.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! Please review and let me know what you thought! :)

I have a tumblr at imaginebrittana . tumblr . com if you're interested.


	20. Chapter 20

**A.N.** Thank you to _Rosetoast_, _AlessandraFelix_, _Frogfeather_, _knowthescore_, _BiaSilveira_, _pepper6_, _Cyan55_, _Alex Ryzlin Gold_ and _holdmetonight_ for the reviews! :) And to _MicaLovesBrittana_, _elfypelfy_ and _gg-lithium_ for the messages :)

Thanks to my beta Veiledgreyskies! Check out her story if you have the time :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 20<span>

I felt like I was going crazy after being stuck in the house all week. I had been banned from stepping foot outside the front door – I was barely allowed to look out of the windows – and being kept in a house for that long was slowly driving me insane. It also didn't help that I wasn't sleeping very well. It could have been because I was in a new place, but the reason was more than likely because I was away from Brittany; she had also had trouble sleeping.

It was Friday, and while Brittany came around every day after school and kept me company, that wasn't the same as me getting any fresh air or different surroundings. I was sure I had memorised the pattern on the wallpaper in my bedroom by now.

I sat down at the table opposite Justin, ready to start our first training session regarding my power. He had been training me all week in how to look after myself and physically defend myself if the time comes, and decided that it was time to expand that to my mind.

The plus side of Brittany coming over here every day, other than me getting to see her and spend time with her, was that she got to see my father. They got on really well, and the second time he saw her he told her to call him Justin. The only reason he had accepted being called 'Mr Belvedere' was because he didn't know if he could trust her and didn't want to be friendly with her if he couldn't. Brittany sometimes joined in on our training sessions, her background in dance helping greatly in the moves we were learning. My father seemed to realise that I paid less attention to what he was teaching me when Brittany was there though, so she was only there for half of my lessons. I tried to teach her the things that she missed out on, but she proved to be incredibly distracting.

I had wanted to start learning more about my power straight away, but he told me that I can't rely just on that; I need a solid foundation, a backup plan.

"Okay, so we haven't really talked all that much about your power or what you can do at the moment. Tell me everything you know about it."

Nodding, I thought back to everything that I had learned about it, and tried to start from the beginning. "When I was younger I used to just randomly get the memories, but more commonly at night. As I grew up, my mind became more guarded and I protected myself against them, so I tended to receive them when I was sleeping and my guard was down. Recently though, they've started becoming more persistent, although it's not with everyone."

"How do you mean?"

"They started becoming worse when Brittany moved here. The ones that are stronger all concern her." My dad hummed and motioned for me to continue. "I view the memories as if they're happening to me; I see what they see, feel what they feel, and think what they think. They come from people both dead and alive. People I touch, even just a brush of skin contact, give me their memories. I only recently started exploring what I can do with it, and figured out that I can remove memories from people. I removed one from Rico, but that went wrong and hurt him."

He nodded and looked slightly impressed. "I hadn't realised just how developed your powers were; I wouldn't have known where to start if it wasn't for my father guiding me in it. That makes it easier for us though, we don't have to worry about learning so much."

"What exactly can you do then? What was it he taught you?" I asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

"I…have mind control, basically. It seemed to manifest later in me, mainly because I would have to try to do it, or be desperate for it to happen. I have to go into someone's mind to be able to control what they do, but when I was a child and I really wanted someone to do something, they would do it. Of course, we didn't realise what it was then. When I was a child, I accessed it somewhat like Matilda did. When my father started teaching me about it though, the first thing I had to do was learn how to navigate my own mind. This is even more important for you to do."

"Why? Isn't that taking up time we don't have?"

"No. You can't chance not doing this. You have so many different memories inside of you, a number much larger than any of us have had to possess. You need to organise that into something less chaotic, something that allowed you to navigate your mind without confusion. This will also aid with something you will learn to do later on down the line. But at the moment, it's essentially like you have many different people living inside of your mind; you need to lock them all away, so you can only visit them when you want."

I frowned, not liking the implications of that "so you're saying that I'm crazy? I'm me; I've always been me. No one else has ever ruled over me."

"No, no, no, I'm not saying that. When you see the memories, you're basically that person, yes? You know what they know and feel what they feel, right?" I nodded. "Well this part of the person is 'living', surviving inside of you, so that you can access it at any time. Once you've gained control of your mind and had much more training, you'll be able to tap into the person's skills and knowledge, but it is incredibly dangerous to do so."

"Why? How would I do that?" I asked, excited at the possibilities. "Wait, why couldn't I just do that instead of going through these self-defence courses?"

"You need to swear that you won't do it until I say that you can, and when I'm with you."

His voice was deadly serious, so I sat up straighter and nodded solemnly, absorbing the seriousness he was giving off. "I promise."

"I'm only telling you now in case something happens to me and I won't be able to later, like what happened with my parents. You would have to enter the memory of the person that has the skill that you want, but not fully. You would be stuck, half way between being that person and yourself, so you have both of your thoughts and experiences. You will be able to move your body, with some of the body memories of the second person. You have to be careful to stay in between though, once you've got that balance, you need to stay there."

"So…how exactly would that happen? Like, would they have to be performing the skill that I want at the same time, or would them just knowing about it be enough for me? Is there a way for me to access this person's mind and see their previous memories? And how would this all work; wouldn't the memory playing out distract me?"

"I've never had the power that you have; we can't know until the time when we try it. A lot of this is just theoretical, putting together everyone else's experiences with powers like ours, looking at the similarities and differences, and figuring out what we'd be able to do. I'd guess that the person would have to at least be thinking about the skill that you want, if not performing it. The same answer for the second question as well; you can't really control the other person in your mind, the one that you're seeing, which is why it is so dangerous to do what we are talking about; they'd have to be thinking about the previous thought or memory. The thing that they're thinking about that links to it doesn't have to be massive though; it could be a passing thought that links in to what you want to know. It shouldn't distract you if you do it correctly; the memory doesn't even need to be playing out exactly, but you need to concentrate on what you are doing. Your body will do the rest."

"Okay, so what am I going to start learning now then?" At his glance I quickly corrected myself "after I sort my mind out?"

"How to put new memories into people's minds and alter existing memories. I don't think I need to tell you how useful this would be; once you've done that, Brittany could be safe again; only a select few – Rico, if I'm not mistaken – has seen her. If you edit his memory of her, change what she looks like or make sure he never saw her before, she would be safe from them. You don't need to go into one specific memory to do that either; you can search for every memory regarding Brittany and group them together to edit, which would be much more efficient."

"Okay, I think I get it. Is that all I will be able to do with this then? Is there nothing else I will be able to learn later on down the line?"

He sat back in his seat and laughed, "you're eager, aren't you? You should be happy with what you can do at the moment, and what you'll be able to do after a bit of training. But we can't know if that is all until you do this first. I can talk to some people I know and see if they can help with the training, but there are a lot of other things going on at the moment, and now isn't exactly the best time to call in a favour."

I nodded and sat up straighter. "So are we going to start on organising my mind right now?"

"Yes. So, firstly I have to enter your mind and see how it is sorted so far; my father did the same to me. Is that alright?"

I bit my lip, thinking of Brittany and all of the things that I didn't want him to know.

He seemed to realise what I was thinking. He smiled "I didn't want my father to do this either. I know that it is a huge breach of privacy – our mind is our most sacred part – but I will do everything I can to not actually see anything of yours. We do not have the same power anyway, so I will not be able to view memories as you do."

I nodded slowly in acquiescence, trusting that he was telling the truth, but not that he wouldn't see anything I didn't want him to know.

"Great, thank you, Santana. The best way to go into this is like occlumency in harry potter; have you seen the films or read the books?"

I nodded "yeah, but I can't remember what he had to do."

"This is only while I am in your mind, to try and prevent me from seeing what you are thinking, as that is what will be strongest with my power. So, try not to think about what you don't want me to see. I will have to see some memories, and maybe watch some of the ones from other people, but I'll be able to tell which ones those are because of the different…uh, aura, I suppose you could call it. If there is something you don't want me to see – you will be able to see what I am seeing – then push me out, you will know how, but only out of the memory, not your mind."

I took a deep breath and nodded, emptying my mind as best I could. When I felt I was ready, I nodded and kept still, focussing on the backs of my eyelids. I felt something inside of my mind and frowned. It felt like a cold shadow was traversing my mind.

Justin spoke then, startling me a little, but I made sure to just concentrate on his voice to let it comfort me. He told me what he was doing and where he was going, making sure to fill me in every step of the way. He entered a few different memories, some mine and some other people's, and I felt his interest spike when he found a slightly older memory that I had received a few years ago. It was weird, I could feel his emotions slightly as well, as if they were my own, but I couldn't tell whether that was because he was in my mind and it was my power acting as it usually did, or if it was his mind control somewhat affecting me. I clenched my fist and relaxed a bit, knowing that I was still in control of my own body.

A buzzing against my thigh startled me and I jumped, my consciousness expanding somewhat and knocking into his. A feeling of powerlessness spread over me and I tried to move, but was frozen. Brittany's face flashed in my mind and I relaxed slightly, but at the same time panicked, knowing that Justin could see anything at any time and I wouldn't be able to do anything. I felt his presence in my mind recede a second before the memory of my lips touching Brittany's took over.

I completely relaxed and then noticed the buzzing again, so I opened my eyes and grabbed my phone, wiping the sweat that was dotted along my brow with my other hand. I didn't look up as I opened the text and saw that it was from Quinn.

Once I'd finished reading it, I slowed my breathing and made sure that I was even before looking up and saying "Quinn needs to meet up with me, she says that it's important. Is that alright?"

Justin looked really apologetic, but was also looking at me in a way that he hadn't before. I froze, wondering if he saw that memory of me and Brittany. I knew that he was receding from my mind, but I wasn't entirely sure that he was gone completely, because of how confused and panicked I was by everything that was happening. "I'm really sorry about that, Santana; you startled me and-"

I cut him off, not wanting to talk about it in that moment. I couldn't cope with the fact that he might know more about me than I wanted. I was still too shook up to have a proper conversation about it if he had. "Can I go, please?" My eyes were pleading.

"Quinn who?"

"Fabray."

"Russell and Judy's daughter?" I nodded and he hummed in surprise. "Yes, that's alright. You can go to the park around the corner, it's out of the way enough that no one will see you there. Let me know when you'll be back."

I nodded and stood, grabbing my bag and coat before walking out of the door.

* * *

><p>I saw Quinn approaching from my spot on the bench but stayed seated, looking around to see who else was about. My dad's paranoia seemed to be rubbing off on me, as I couldn't stop looking around, the prickling on the back of my neck uncomfortable.<p>

She was holding two drinks and handed me one as she sat down.

I smiled thankfully, "what's up?"

Quinn turned to face me, tucking one leg under her as she did so "are you okay?"

I laughed slightly "of course I am; are you?"

"You haven't been in school all week. Brittany says that you're ill whenever I ask, but I can tell that she's lying."

"Why would she lie about that?"

"I don't know, but you're out here now, looking as healthy as ever, so it's obviously not true."

"I'm better today, but it's the last day of the week and Figgins wouldn't let me in anyway; you know what he's like with illness."

"Don't bullshit me, Santana. I know that you're lying, and it would be great if you didn't try to insult my intelligence. I won't bother trying to find out why you're not in school – it's obvious that you're not going to tell me – but will you be in next week?"

"I don't think so," I sighed. "Why?"

"Everyone's talking about why you've been out all week. There are so many rumours going around, it's unbelievable. You need to come back and sort it out. Plus, I'm fed up of everyone asking me why you're not in, so I can't imagine how Brittany is feeling."

I ran a hand over my face "what kind of rumours?"

"Any that you could think of. Most are ridiculous. There's some about you and Brittany having a fight, some about you and Puck, loads about how you were beaten up last week and the person who did that came back to finish the job." She winced as she said that and I just took a sip of my drink, thinking it through. "Santana, you need to come back, please. Plus, you're pretty much the only one that can reign Rachel in at the moment, and I need that. I honestly think that I'll kill her without it."

"Okay, I'll try to sort it out, but I'm not promising anything."

"Great. Thank you, Santana."

I smiled and stood up, looking around once more. Quinn took note of that and glanced around as well, a questioning look on her face.

I just shrugged. "I'll let you know what's happening with school. See you."

"Bye," she smiled as I walked in the direction of the house, thinking over what she had said, but not letting myself become too engrossed in my thoughts.

* * *

><p>He was still sitting at the kitchen table when I got back, his elbows resting on the table with his hands clasped on the back of his head. I saw him move slightly to show that he heard me enter, but he stayed looking down at the table.<p>

As I walked around him, I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly, unused to doing so, but unsure of what else I could do to show him that I was there and forgave him.

I sat down opposite him and cleared my throat, waiting until he looked up at me with red rimmed eyes to say, "stop beating yourself up about it."

"I hurt you; my daughter."

"It was a mistake. I shouldn't have reacted that way to my phone ringing; it's my fault."

"No, it's not. I should have enough control by now to not react like that. How am I supposed to teach you if I can't even control myself? I'm supposed to protect you, not hurt you."

"It was an automatic reaction; your body's natural one. I'm not going to argue with you about this. Even though there's nothing to forgive, as you didn't hurt me, I forgive you. Can we talk now?"

He hesitated, but nodded, curious as to what I wanted to talk about.

"I need to go back to school." He shook his head as soon as I said that, but I continued, wanting to get my point across before he shut me down completely. "Everyone is getting suspicious; you can't expect my disappearing to not get attention. There's so many rumours going around, some of which are somewhat close to the truth."

"It's too dangerous. I can't subject you to that again."

"And it's too dangerous staying here. People are going to wonder where I am. Enzo is going to realise that you are back soon enough if I stay here. Then it'll only be a matter of time before he finds you and follows you back here. At least if I'm back in school, they'll feel like they have the upper hand and know where I am. They wouldn't try anything in public anyway."

"It may be too late for that," he muttered, looking annoyed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, worried.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "That could just make it more dangerous; they could follow you back here after school."

"It's not fair on me," I pleaded desperately. "I feel like I'm the prisoner. I haven't done anything wrong, so why should I be treated like I have? I'm being locked away, unable to see anyone and go outside; how is that fair? I've done everything you said; you should trust me enough to let me go to school. You've taught me loads of self-defence."

He looked away for a few seconds, then back to me. "I'll agree on one condition."

"What?"

"That I can be a teacher there."

"What? That'll take ages, I can't wait that long!"

"It won't. Give me an hour and it'll be sorted," he smirked. "Do we have a deal?"

"Okay," I nodded. "Are you going now?"

"Yeah. I'll do that then get everything that I'll need for Monday. Do you need anything while I'm out?"

"Just some stationary, the usual school stuff, please."

"Sure." He stood up and walked over to me, pressing a kiss to my head and muttering "stay safe," as he left. That was the way he commonly said goodbye, but I hadn't said anything about it to him. I was a little uncomfortable with it at first, but when Brittany explained that it was likely because he was scared to leave me alone in case he lost me for the second time, I quickly pushed past that and appreciated that I was living with my dad and how amazing he was.

I stood up from my seat and moved to the sofa, sprawling on it as I turned the TV on and grabbed my phone. I had received a text from Brittany earlier, telling me that she wasn't allowed to come over tonight because her mom wanted to have a family meal, as they felt like they never saw her because she was always over here. I felt guilty but couldn't bring myself to regret it, knowing that the time I already had with Brittany didn't seem to be enough for me, so I wouldn't be able to cope with any less than that throughout the week.

We kept up a steady stream of texts, Brittany's dinners with her family being informal enough that they didn't notice her texting, and even if they did, they wouldn't tell her off for it. I looked at the clock and saw that Justin had been out for a few hours now, longer than I had expected. He was never in before a set time anyway and I suddenly realised that Brittany would be able to come over and stay the night without him realising. He never went into my room, and so if she was here before he got home, he would never know any different.

I texted her the proposition and then waited for her reply for a few minutes, fiddling with my phone, unable to stay still. When my phone chimed, I opened it and beamed at the conformation that was shining back at me.

I tidied the house up as best I could in the short space of time that I had, not that it was messy in the first place. Justin liked it to be organised and needed to know where everything was.

The doorbell rang, so I sprang over to it, but remembered to check through the peep hole before opening the door. Brittany was stood there with a shy smile on her face, so I quickly opened the door and ushered her in, taking her bag from her and placing it in my room.

I could hear her bare feet padding after me, from where she took her shoes off at the door, just a step behind. Once I placed it on the floor, I turned around to face her and was met by her lips cushioning mine, a slight smile curving at the edges of her mouth.

"What was that for?" I asked when we separated.

"For inviting me over. Won't your dad be mad though?"

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him," I grinned.

"So does that mean we're staying in your room the whole of tonight?" She wiggled her eyebrows and I laughed, shoving her shoulder lightly.

"Come on, let's put a film on, you goof." I grabbed a blanket as I left the room, placing it on the sofa and then setting up a film to watch. I wouldn't normally go into the living room, but I didn't have a TV in my room yet and I'd be able to hear when Justin got home, with enough time for Brittany to move into my room.

Brittany was sat across the whole of the sofa and patted the space between her legs, so I settled down there, leaning back against her front. My head was resting in the crook of her neck and I settled the blanket over us as Brittany's hands wound their way over my waist.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it and if there's anything you'd like to see :)

I have a tumblr at imaginebrittana if you want to check it out :)


	21. Chapter 21

**A.N.** Thanks again to _ghgfh_, _BiaSilveira_ and _Thundering Ice_ for the reviews! :) And to _elfypelfy_, _gg-lithium, XxPerfectlyPerfectAsIAmxX, kaitlyn9393, Alex Ryzlin Gold _and_ runephoenix6769 _for the messages :)

And, as always, thanks to my beta _**veiledgreyskies** _:)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 21<span>

I blinked and tried to stretch a little, but the position I was laying in stopped me from doing so. Opening my eyes, I saw the sun shining through the open curtains of the living room, falling on the clock on the table in front of me; 11:05. I glanced up and noticed that I was laying on Brittany, my head on her chest and her arms wrapped around my waist, with the blanket still covering us.

I looked around, panicking. Where was Justin; had he seen us like this? Why hadn't we been kicked out already?

I moved Brittany's hands from around my waist and carefully stood up, taking longer to do so, to ensure that I wouldn't wake her. If he was waiting to talk to me about this, I didn't want her in the way, ready to hear the hurtful things he was likely to say. He loved my mother, after all; how could he be so loving and supportive when she is the exact opposite?

Once I was standing, I placed the blanket back over Brittany and stretched before padding into the kitchen, readying myself for the confrontation I was sure was about to happen.

There was no one in the kitchen, but a folded piece of paper was sat in the centre of the table. I approached it cautiously and picked it up, fiddling with it before straightening it out.

_Santana, _

_I had to go out to attend to some business that just popped up. I don't know when I will be back, but I will be home in time for dinner; let me know if you have plans._

_Justin._

I frowned. Why hadn't he said anything about seeing me and Brittany? It made me antsy and I shifted in place, trying to think of any reason he would have to not mention it. He was saving it 'til later; he had to be. Either that or he was going to ignore it. I sighed and put it back on the table, fixing two glasses of orange juices before making my way back into the living room.

Brittany was just sitting up as I entered, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, smiling when she saw me walking toward her. She accepted the glass I offered her and smiled thankfully, taking a sip before murmuring "good morning."

"Morning," I smiled, settling back into the sofa and kicking my feet up onto the table.

"We fell asleep," she stated looking around the room. I nodded and she continued "didn't your dad mind?"

I bit my lip and wondered what to say, but I had resolved not to lie to her. "I don't know; he wasn't here when I woke up. He's never said anything about it either way, so he might be fine with it."

She nodded, but the slight crinkle of her brow indicated that she may have caught on that I didn't think that that was the case.

I turned the TV on and flicked to Friends, content to just have a lazy day cuddling with Brittany. We had been watching it for a while when I heard her tentative voice ask "San?"

"Yeah?" I turned to look at her, noticing her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. I moved my hands to graze her face, placing her chin in my palm and running my thumb over her lip, pulling on it gently until she released it. "What is it?"

"Why are you…" she sighed and shrugged. I placed my glass on the table and turned to face her more, my expression imploring her to continue. "Why do you push people away and…act like someone you're not?"

"Why am I a bitch?" I chuckled, but she didn't smile.

"You're not a bitch…but why do you act like one?"

I shrugged and looked away, studying the painting hanging on the wall across from me. She nudged my arm lightly, after I had been silent for a while. "It wasn't always so easy for me to control the memories that I got. Well, it's not now either," I shrugged, "but when I was younger I would get a lot from people that I knew. People that I was friends with. There was this one time; I was out with a bunch of friends in a park when I had a memory that came from my best friend. I was ten."

I shivered and Brittany ran her hands over my arms, trying to soothe away the goosebumps that had spread over me. "You don't have to tell me this if you don't want to."

"No, I want to," I shook my head. "It…my friend used to be abused by her uncle. He would do and say things that were just…" I shook my head, unable to describe it. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I looked to Brittany, seeing understanding in hers. I shrugged. "It wasn't only the things that he did and said that were horrible for me; usually I could somewhat remove myself from the memory, emotionally, but I was too invested in her. Our minds had this kind of connection, I guess, which made it harder to watch. I automatically knew who it was, but even if I didn't I would have known by the end. She saw herself in a mirror. After that, I swore that I wouldn't let myself become that vulnerable again. It hurt too much to see my friends in a way that no one should; to see them in the most vulnerable positions. So I backed away from everyone and kept myself free from feeling that again. It didn't only end up hurting me when I saw things like that; the way I acted around that person after I saw something hurt them too."

Brittany pulled me into her, rubbing my back as I rested my head in the crook of her neck. "Why did you stop doing that? You became friends with me. And Quinn," Brittany murmured into my hair, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"It's impossible to deny you what you want; have you tried saying no to you?" I looked up at her and grinned. "You were different. I…it's like we were connected before I even knew you. I saw memories of you and…it's like-" I blushed and looked away, stopping myself from saying any more.

"It's like what?" she grinned. I shook my head resolutely and she pouted, her lower lip sticking out exaggeratedly, trembling. "Please?"

I narrowed my eyes at her before looking up to the ceiling and muttering "it's like we were meant to be."

"Awwww," she cooed. "Who knew Santana was so cheesy?"

"I'm not cheesy!" I protested, looking back down at her.

"Yes you are, but don't worry; I love that about you," her eyes were twinkling and I grinned, leaning in to kiss her. When we pulled apart she said "you never really talk about your power; I never knew that it could be that bad."

I shrugged, "that's just what I put up with; there's nothing I can do about it, so I had to learn to live with it. It can be interesting. It's like...a chance to remember things that I never actually experienced. I've lived out so many different times and experiences through this. It can be a burden, but it's a chance to learn things and experience them first-hand. I feel like I'm incredibly lucky to know the truth about so many things that are skewered by time and the media."

"But doesn't it hurt that you can't do anything to change how people view things that happened; that past wars and others things have been twisted in a way that will never be righted because there's no one living that can tell the tale of it. No one would believe you if you told the truth, so every day you hear things that you know are lies."

"But I believe it and know what's true; that's like everything in the world. A lot of people believe that gay marriage is wrong, but I know that it's right, and that feeling is all that matters. It's the same thing."

"You think about gay marriage?" Brittany looked at me with a shy grin on her face.

"Well yeah, I guess." I looked away and she chuckled, grabbing my chin and bringing me in for a deep kiss.

She turned serious and I could tell that she wanted to ask me something.

"You don't need to worry about asking me anything; you couldn't hurt by doing that. The worst I could do is say no or refuse to tell you, but I can't imagine that would happen."

She nodded. "What you said before about receiving bad memories. Well…you totally don't have to answer this, because I know it's probably crossing a line and will bring it all back to you, but…what's the worst experience you've ever had?"

I hummed, thinking. "There's been a few," I chuckled, trying to break any tension that she felt, but she just frowned and gripped my hands. "Okay…it has to be one where I had been kidnapped and was being tortured. But it wasn't the pain I felt, or being away from the people that 'I' loved that that was the worst part, but the knowledge that 'I' deserved it.

Brittany shook her head, but I shushed her, squeezing her hands. "I don't think I've told you, but when I get memories I can hear their thoughts and it's like I am them; I've done what they've done. Well, this man didn't think that he deserved the torture; he thought that he was perfectly justified in what he had done, but I knew. While I was watching it, I had these two conflicting thoughts, and it was killing me to have to share a mind with someone like him."

"Why, what…had he done?" she asked softly. She looked torn between knowing the truth and not wanting to find out the details.

"They lived in like, Afghanistan and it was the war there. He pillaged little villages and then raped and killed women and children. Slowly. He took what he wanted and left, and then when he was caught, he refused to acknowledge that anything he did was wrong in the slightest. I had to experience the thoughts that he had; the beliefs that he had. It really fucked me over, once it was finished," I chuckled. "I stayed in my room and refused to leave it or talk to anyone. I felt like I needed to reaffirm who I was. I've never felt so trapped in my own mind."

Brittany's eyes were soft and she looked so sorry that she had asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"No, no, I want you to know everything. I trust you and I want to tell you everything that you want to know, it might help to explain who I am as well."

Her eyes softened greatly and she leaned in, resting our foreheads together and looking into my eyes. "Thank you, Santana. And I trust you too. I've had problems with trust in the past, as you know, but I really do believe in you. I feel so honoured that you've trusted me and told me so much, and I want you to know that I'd repay the favour; anything you want to know, and it's yours."

"I…what happened to you before, Britt? What happened that made you have trust issues?"

"Just the usual school stuff, really. I was really good friends with some girls and one day we all went exploring in some woods. They told me that I could be the leader and they giggled, but I thought nothing of it. We'd been walking for a while and I'd just been looking at all of the trees and nature and I turned around to point something out and they were gone. I tried to find my way back, but we'd taken so many twists and turns and random 'shortcuts' that I couldn't find my way back. I was lost overnight and my parents had to send a search party out. They eventually found me." She shrugged. "Other stuff happened before and after that, but that one instance was probably the most memorable."

"Is that why you moved?" I asked softly, running my thumbs over her hands.

"Yeah, my parents got fed up of people 'taking advantage of my innocent nature'. I told them that I would learn and wouldn't be as trusting, but I did kind of want to leave anyway; get a fresh start and not be the stupid little girl that everyone can push around."

"You've never been that girl, Brittany. Trusting someone doesn't make you stupid, it makes you human. And if you didn't trust me, we wouldn't be here now, would we?"

"I suppose not," she smiled and pulled me in for a hug, gripping onto me tightly.

I held her back just as firmly and we stayed like that for a while before she relaxed and sank into my side, settling back in to watch TV. Friends had finished and another show was on, one that I hadn't seen before, but Brittany seemed to be enjoying it, so I let her watch it while I stared at her, marking down each little reaction she had.

She looked up at me after a while and blushed when she saw that I had been watching her, her cheeks flushing a light pink. "What?" she asked shyly.

"You're perfect," I exhaled softly then froze for a second, feeling myself blush before I looked to the side.

"Nuh-uh; you are," she hummed, grabbing hold of my chin and making me face her before she kissed me softly.

I shook my head lightly and felt her smile against my lips. I couldn't help but smile too and she giggled, breaking off the kiss.

"I want to go out and watch a film," she suddenly announced, leaning back slightly to see my face more clearly.

"Sure," I nodded. "What do you want to see?"

"I don't know; whatever is playing."

I chuckled slightly, knowing that this was her way of testing the waters and seeing how I would feel about us going out together. "We can go get dinner after as well, if you want?" I asked.

She nodded, beaming at me, her eyes alight. I knew that I had done the right thing, but her expression fell as she glanced at the clock on the table beside us.

"I need to go home; my mom wanted to talk to me about something."

"Okay," I said, upset that she had to leave so soon, but content knowing that I would see her later. I stood up, offering her my hand and pulling her up, leading her to my bedroom to collect her bag. "I'll pick you up at six, if that's alright?"

"Yes," she smiled, "that's perfect."

We got to the door and she turned to me, looking slightly troubled. "What about your dad, though? Doesn't he want you to stay inside?"

"He'll be fine; he knows that I can't stay locked up forever. I need some kind of social life." She still looked a little troubled, so I added "if he says no, I'll call you and we can do something else, but I promise you he won't, okay?"

She smiled and leaned in, giving me a kiss before opening the door and walking out of it. I watched her go until she was out of sight, then shut it and leaned back against it, smiling broadly.

* * *

><p>I ran my hand through my hair, for about the fiftieth time in the past minute. I was looking through my wardrobe, trying to find an outfit, yet failing miserably. Brittany hadn't made a big deal out of talking about it, and neither had I, but we both knew that it was a date, and I didn't want to turn up looking like a slob.<p>

We acted like this a lot, it's what our relationship was like; we didn't need to verbalise things to know what was happening. Most of our relationship had been non-verbal, just natural and knowing what we needed to know. Going on a date was the same thing, but that didn't stop the nerves I felt when the time was drawing closer and I wasn't ready in the slightest.

I spread the clothes out in front of me again and took a deep breath, calming myself down. It wasn't a fancy date, which narrowed it down to about half of my clothes already. The cinema and then dinner; I'd done that enough times to know what to wear. I chose a pair of skinny jeans and a nice shirt, similar to what I was wearing the night of the party when Brittany and I had made out.

I got ready, making sure to only have light makeup on, with my hair falling in curls around my face. I had an hour until I had to leave and I hadn't seen Justin since yesterday. I didn't want to just leave without telling him, and knew that I had to ask his permission if I wanted to be allowed out again.

I sighed and grabbed my phone from the table, flicking through the numbers until I found his. My thumb hovered over his name, the tight feeling in my chest preventing me from pressing down on it. I looked at it for a few more seconds before pressing down, knowing that if he said no, I would have to tell Brittany and have enough time to figure out something else to do. I may have felt comfortable breaking the rules and not listening to what I was told while I lived with my mother, but things were more dangerous now, and I didn't want to ruin my relationship with a father I had only just found out about and met.

It rang a couple of times before he answered "hello?" My breath was caught in my throat as I tried to answer. "Santana?" he sounded panicked, so I cleared my throat and tried again.

"Hi. I was um…wondering if I could go out tonight?"

"Go out with whom?"

I looked up at the ceiling, having tried avoid telling him that. I didn't want him knowing who it was and having it affect his answer. "Brittany."

He was silent for a couple of seconds and I closed my eyes, dreading the answer. "When are you leaving and coming back?"

"Uh…I'll be leaving in under an hour, just before six. I'm not sure what time I'd be back; ten, maybe?"

"Okay, just try not to be back much later than that."

"I can go?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, you can go," he chuckled. "You and Brittany have fun. And don't forget to keep an eye out for any trouble, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see me. "Thank you!"

"It's no problem. See you later."

"Bye!" I chirped as I hung up, sending a text off to Brittany to let her know that I was allowed to go out.

* * *

><p>Stopping the car outside her house, I took a deep breath and fiddled with the flowers in my hands. It was a purple aster surrounded by three camellias; red, pink, and white with a white bow holding them together. I saw the curtain twitch, so I stepped out and approached the door, keeping the flowers behind my back. I lifted my hand to knock, but it opened before I had the chance.<p>

Brittany was grinning at me, bouncing up and down on the spot as she clasped her hands tightly in front of her.

"Hi," I murmured, pulling my hand out from behind my back to hold the flowers out for her. "These are for you," I said, then cursed myself after, knowing how stupid I sounded.

"Santana," she breathed, taking them gently from my hand and smiling bashfully. "They're beautiful; what are they?"

"An aster and camellias."

"I've never heard of them before," she furrowed her brow, and I simply shrugged. "Come in for a second while I put these in some water." She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside and I panicked, having not thought that far ahead.

Her parents didn't know that we were going out, at least from what I was aware of, and this would be more than obvious. I had only wanted to make this date perfect for Brittany and get her what she deserved, but I didn't think about what she would do with the flowers.

My thoughts were cut off when we entered the kitchen and her mom was in there, peeling potatoes at the sink. I looked down to our still clasped hands, but Brittany didn't notice, just continued to gently tug me.

She let go of me when she reached the sink, passing me the flowers as she nudged her mom to move out of the way, reaching into the cupboard underneath to pull out a vase. Her mom turned around as she wiped her hands on a towel and noticed me standing there.

"Santana!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly.

My eyes widened and I looked between her and the flowers in my hands before clearing my throat slightly. "Hello Su-Mrs…hi." I was stuck on what to call her; I had got used to calling her Susan when I lived there, but now that I was there as the girl who was dating her daughter, I didn't know if it would be common courtesy to address her formally.

"It's still Susan, dear," she laughed. "So, you're the person who is taking my daughter out on a date."

I saw Brittany look over her shoulder, a slight grin on her face, but she stayed silent, letting me sweat it out. "I…uhh." My eyes darted between them, and the similarities between the two were startling. The smirk on Susan's face made it easy to imagine what she looked like when she was a teenager, and matched the one Brittany was sporting as she stepped up next to her, holding the vase filled with water.

I cleared my throat and stood a little taller. "Yes, I am," I stated proudly, looking to Brittany for confirmation that I had done the right thing.

She swept over to my side and took the flowers out of my hands, placing them in the vase as her mom wandered over. "Camellias and an aster," she muttered, shooting me a knowing look. I shifted on the spot uneasily, but didn't say anything as she continued to stare at me. "Well, it's so lovely to see you; it feels like it's been forever. You really need to come over more. God knows that Emily hasn't stopped talking about you."

"I'll try to do that," I nodded, shooting her a smile. "Where is she now?"

"She's sleeping over at a friend's; she'll be upset that she missed you. Anyway, I won't hold you up any longer. Go have some fun."

"Thank you," I said as Brittany pulled me to the door and she walked us there. "Have a nice night."

"You too; bring her back by eleven. And it's only that time because I like you, Santana," she grinned.

"Thank you," I laughed. "I will."

Brittany kissed her mom on the cheek then we left, walking to the car. I held the door open for her and she smiled charmingly at me. I shut the door softly after her then quickly walked around and got in, buckling up and pulling away in no time.

"So, did your mom know that you were going on a date before this, or did everything I do just confirm it?" I asked, smiling at her.

"I didn't tell her, but I didn't need to; she just knew."

"How?" Brittany stayed silent, so I looked at her to see her biting her lip, looking a little embarrassed. I laughed. "Were you-"

"Don't laugh at me," Brittany whined. "Besides, I bet you were the same."

I concentrated on the road as I remembered the nerves running through me before I left, glad that no one was around to witness it. "Maybe," I grinned, side-eyeing her.

She nudged my shoulder with hers and I chuckled. I pulled into the cinema and found a parking space, getting out and walking around to the other side, frowning as Brittany stepped out and met me there.

"What?" she asked as we started walking.

"Nothing," I shrugged and shook my head.

She looked back to the car and then a look of comprehension dawned on her face "oh. I don't like just waiting there for someone to open the door for me. It feels like…I don't know, like they're waiting on me or something."

"So you didn't like it when I opened the door for you first of all?"

"Oh no, I did. It was really sweet" she assured me as she linked her arm through mine.

"Great," I smiled.

We walked into the cinema and looked at the list of films, arms still linked and leaning into each other. I didn't know what any of the films were, so Brittany chose and I paid for both of us. She protested a little, but I gave her a look and she silenced, smiling bashfully and leaning into my side even more.

I bought a tub of popcorn and a drink for us to share and then we made our way to the screen room, the trailers already playing. It was pretty busy, but there were still quite a few seats empty, so we chose the middle row, Brittany leading.

As soon as the film had started playing, Brittany had grabbed my hand, holding it lightly as they rested on the armrest between us. It was a children's animation, and I loved the sound of her laugh, and the way her face lit up. After a while, she rested her head on my shoulder, but kept shifting around, trying to get comfortable.

Pushing her back a little, I took the drink out of the holder and placed it in the one on the other side of me, lifting up the armrest in between us. She beamed and placed the popcorn on the floor at our feet, lifting her feet up on her chair and curling into my side. I rested my head on hers and wound my arm around her, not caring about any looks we may get. As long as Brittany was with me, I didn't care what anyone thought.

The film passed quickly and in no time the lights came back to life, startling people up from their seats and out of the cinema. Brittany slowly sat up, grinning at me as she asked "what did you think?"

I saw some people side eyeing us as they walked past the row we were on, but ignored them, focussing on Brittany's face. "It was amazing," I said sincerely and she nodded rapidly.

I stood up and she followed my direction, picking her bag up and handing me mine. We walked out of the cinema hand in hand, talking about the film on the way to the car, and then on the way to the restaurant, which was only a couple of minutes' drive from the cinema.

The restaurant wasn't posh, but the food was nice and the atmosphere was friendly. We ordered quickly and made small talk as we waited for our food, happy to just relax in the other's company.

Once it had arrived we ate it in silence, catching each other's eyes every now and then, grinning goofily at each other. I could see Brittany eyeing my plate, so I chuckled, taking a forkful and holding it out to her.

She looked at me questioningly, so I smiled "try it."

She leaned forward, letting her lips envelope the fork and kept eye contact. I swallowed, my throat feeling suddenly dry, and she pulled away, chewing the food in her mouth slowly, a grin curving the edges of her mouth.

"Nice?" I asked when she finished it, shifting slightly. She nodded and held out her fork to do the same, which I happily complied with, also throwing in a little moan to try and garner the reaction she instilled in me.

It looked to work and she blinked, pulling the fork out of my mouth and back onto her plate slowly. I chuckled and finished eating my meal, making sure to glance up at her every now and then to catch her eyes.

Once I had finished I leaned back in my seat, letting my arm rest on the table beside my plate, playing with the napkin underneath. Brittany's fingers brushed against mine gently, lightly running them over mine before she slipped them in between each other and clasped them together. I turned my hand over and grasped hers more firmly, squeezing gently and letting them rest on the table.

I could see the waitress walking up to us out of the corner of my eye. I frowned, noticing her looking at our hands with a look of distaste. I entered her mind, doing my best to put into practice what my dad had taught me, and listened in on her thoughts. She was going to say something.

I looked to Brittany, seeing how happy and oblivious she was and then back to our linked hands, knowing that if I pulled mine away it would make her upset, and if the woman said something she would be incredibly upset as well. I sighed and put my other hand on the table, nudging it against the glass until it fell onto the floor, smashing and spraying water everywhere.

Brittany jumped, her hand coming out of mine on instinct as she clutched at her chest in shock, and the waitress's eyes widened as she moved back to the bar, grabbing some things to clean it up with. I entered her mind again and found that her attention was firmly on cleaning up the spill. Perfect.

I found the memory where she was thinking of saying something to us and removed it, making sure to move her remaining memories around in a way that she wouldn't know she forgot something. This was the first time I was attempting it, since I had done so to Rico, but I had gone over the theory with Justin numerous times and understood what I was meant to do.

It went down without a hitch and she cleaned it up, not saying anything to us as she did so, other than to wave away my apology.

We ordered dessert, ate it and then asked for the bill, noticing that we didn't have too long until Brittany was due back.

I pulled out my purse and Brittany did the same and I frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Paying; what are you doing?"

I shook my head "I'm paying for this."

"No, you paid for the tickets and food at the cinema, so I'm paying for the meal."

"Brittany," I whined, "I want to pay for everything; you deserve it."

"But it was my idea," Brittany protested. "I should pay."

"Okay…how about you pay next time?" I asked, not ready to give up on this.

She thought about it and looked into my eyes noticing the resolve there. "Okay, fine. I _will_ pay then though; there's no way you'll get around that."

I grinned and paid, content with winning, and rose from my seat and helping Brittany stand as well.

I drove back, holding her hand when I could, and we reached her house in no time. I stepped out of her car as she did the same and walked her up her pathway, stopping at the front door.

"Tonight was amazing, thank you," Brittany smiled.

"Thank you for coming with me," I grinned.

I looked down to Brittany's lips, wondering whether I was actually going to do the clichéd kiss on a doorstep, but then figured that I didn't care; I had followed the rule book so far, I may as well do the last thing on it.

Brittany caught my look, so she grinned and leaned down the same time I moved up, sealing our lips together. She moved her hand up my arm to cup the back of my neck, pulling me further into her and I placed one hand on her waist, the other moving up to grip the collar of her jacket.

She sighed into my mouth and then I parted, leaning our foreheads together and looking into her eyes, our breaths coating the other's lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, pulling her in for another kiss.

She nodded, humming a "yes," against my lips.

I let go of her jacket and stepped back, smiling at her and then seeing the curtain twitch. I sent a wave to the curtains and Brittany groaned as Susan's face appeared, looking a little sheepish and waving.

I laughed as I stepped up to my car and opened the door. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," she nodded.

I stepped in and buckled up, sending a wave to her as I pulled away. I was surprised at how normal everything was whenever I was with Brittany. Even in the midst of the madness and danger, a night out with her felt like nothing I'd ever experienced, but it felt more right and normal than anything else at the same time.

I still wasn't sure what it was about Brittany that had made me want to find out more about her the first time I had met her, but I was so glad that it was there. It may have just been that I knew we would be together - something was pulling us together - but I would never be happier to have followed my gut as I was with that decision.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! I'd love to get to 100 reviews by the end of the story, and I don't think that there's too long left now. Soo…please review? ^.^

Let me know if there's anything that you'd like to see, because I'm currently planning the rest of the story as well :)

I know that I previously stated in the story that Santana had never had a memory from a living person before Brittany. I need to go back to the chapters that she said it in and change it, so please bear with me as I do so :)


	22. Chapter 22

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Thundering Ice_, _ricetxpeaches_, _knowthescore_, _Red Sonja 88_, _runephoenix6769_, _melody73211_ and _gg-lithium_ for the reviews!  
>And to <em>elfypelfy<em>, _Pepper6_ and _Alex Ryzlin Gold_ for the messgaes.

Massive thanks to my beta **veiledgreyskies**! :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 22<span>

My pinkie finger was linked with Brittany's as we walked through the school halls, ignoring the stares that were cast in our direction and the whispers that followed us. It was the end of my first day back and McKinley was rife with rumours of why I was out for so long, something unheard of for Santana Lopez.

The fact that I had disappeared a week after I had turned up in school, beaten up, was enough to have people thinking that I'd been killed.

My dad had started working there today as well, but I hadn't had any lessons with him. He was a Spanish teacher though, so there was a chance he would teach me tomorrow. No one would figure out the connection between us, considering our different names, so we didn't have to worry about that. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but the attention it would draw to us couldn't be good.

We walked into the choir room for Glee and I spotted Puck straight away, he was sitting on the last seat in the back row, watching as we entered the room. I hadn't heard anything around the school about Puck having been caught with a knife, let alone intending to use it on someone, and that worried me. Whether the school was in on everything, or if he was powerful and important enough to be able to do whatever he wanted without consequence.

I hesitated, not wanting to have to face Puck already. I had considered just quitting Glee Club, but Brittany squeezed my pinkie and smiled reassuringly at me when I looked at her.

She pulled me off to the side and glanced at Puck before speaking "don't worry about him. I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you, but there's no way that he'd try anything with other people around. I don't think that he would anyway though; something has obviously changed with him; he's not watching us anymore."

I looked around the room and saw that she was right. He was tossing a football with Sam and Finn, laughing as they waited for Mr Schue to enter. He didn't seem interested in me in the slightest, and while that made me relax slightly, it also put me on edge, making me wonder what had changed for that to happen.

"Of course," Brittany continued, pulling my attention back to her. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but I think that you're safe and should enjoy this if that's what you want to do. We can leave if you want though?"

I shook my head slightly. "You're right; I'm being ridiculous. You love Glee, I'm not going to ruin it for you. Come on." I linked our pinkies and lead us to some seats in the back row, on the opposite side Puck had been sat on, catching Brittany's smile as I did so.

Mr Schuester walked in and clapped his hands, starting his usual introduction when he suddenly stopped, staring at me. "Santana, you're here!" he sounded surprised and quickly corrected himself "I mean, why were you absent for a week? It's important not to miss any school if you want to pass."

Everyone turned to face me, all looking curious apart from Brittany and Quinn. "I was ill," I stated, but that didn't seem to appease anyone. "Don't you have a lesson to get on with? Discuss which Journey songs we have left to perform at the competition?" I drawled.

He seemed to collect himself and clapped his hands, thanking me before starting the lesson again. I sighed and sank into my chair, glad that I had managed to draw the attention away from myself.

The rest of Glee passed fairly quickly, with Rachel taking the lead as usual, not letting anyone else get a word in. It ended and I left the room quickly with Brittany and Quinn, but a shout stopped me from walking any further.

"Santana!" Rachel panted as she caught up to us. "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

"We have Cheerios practice; you better be quick."

"Actually…I was wondering if I could talk to you alone?"

I shared a look with Brittany before I shrugged, leaning up against the wall. "I won't be long. See you both in practice."

Brittany smiled before walking off with Quinn next to her and we both watched them leave. Rachel waited until there was no one else in the hall before speaking. "You need to stay away from Brittany."

I laughed slightly in disbelief, "and why, pray tell, would I do that?"

"Brittany is a lovely girl, and I don't know why, or even how, you two are friends in the first place, but she doesn't deserve you, nor vice versa. I don't know what you could gain by being her friend, but I suggest that you stop your pretending before you hurt her."

"So what you're saying is that there is no conceivable reason anyone would want to be Brittany's friend, other than to take advantage of her?" I asked.

"No!" Rachel seemed surprised. "I'm saying that people like you aren't friends with people like Brittany. I don't want you to take advantage of her kindness and break her."

I cocked my head to the side, wondering why Rachel seemed so insistent and worked up about the whole thing. I wasn't under the impression that she and Brittany were very close, so I couldn't understand why she would be so worried about my friendship with her.

It was the perfect time to try reading her mind; she was agitated enough to have her thoughts wide open for me to see, and no one else was around to distract me.

I slipped into her mind easily, instantly being assaulted by her thoughts. They were chaotic and I kept seeing snatches of childhood memories, and some high school ones as well. They involved being bullied and victimised when she was younger.

I separated myself from the random stream and focussed on what was happening in her mind right now; what she was thinking.

It kept flashing between her thought and flashbacks, and I was becoming a little disoriented. I didn't understand how Rachel could stay in her head the whole day; her mind worked differently than any I had seen before.

Brittany reminded Rachel of what she was like when she was younger. She was quiet, not wanting to get in anyone's way because of how scary they appeared, but that didn't stop them. They picked her apart and tore at her confidence, bullying her every day because she never fought back and never did anything to stop it. Everyone bullied her because of how shy she seemed, so she figured that she may as well be loud and brash. She was bullied while being quiet, so she may as well be bullied for being herself.

Rachel couldn't help but think back to how she had been treated when she was younger, and link it to the vulnerable way Brittany acted; a sure-fire way to become a victim. She cared about Brittany and wanted to make sure that the same thing wouldn't happen to her.

I looked at her differently then, Rachel's behaviour and seeming indifference to being bullied suddenly made sense. She had accepted that that was her fate – it was all that she had known since she was a child – but she had taken that and twisted it into something that helped her. Something that made her stronger and built up a resistance to petty insults. I felt a surge of respect for her, before quickly clamping down on it, knowing that no good could come of that.

I slowly backed out of her mind and returned to my own, not surprised to see her still talking about Brittany and my unfortunate desire to be the cause of other people's unhappiness.

"Rachel," I cut over her sharply, and she silenced immediately. "I can assure you that I won't hurt Brittany, in any way you are thinking of. I care about her, as I know you do, and I want to help her with what I can. I know that you have no reason to believe me, especially considering the way I have acted towards you and the other members in Glee Club and…" I paused and steeled my resolve. "And for that, I apologise. I had never realised how much my actions and words hurt people, but now I do and will not make the same mistake twice."

Rachel looked surprised, but I couldn't blame her. I had never apologised like that before, and the fact that I was apologising to Rachel Berry hurt me a lot more than it should, but I knew that it was necessary.

I had heard what Enzo was like when he was younger, as well as what he is like now, and I had been raised by him for 17 years. I didn't want to turn into him, and so knew that I had to start changing the way I acted toward people. It took me a while to realise, but now that I had come to the realisation, I would be sure to try to remember it.

"Anyway," I continued "I have Cheerios practice that I need to get to, so if that is all?" she nodded minutely, so I swiftly turned around and walked away, not looking back.

* * *

><p>I closed the front door behind me and called "are you here?" into the house.<p>

I heard some shuffling and then Justin's voice rang out "Yep, in the kitchen."

I placed my bag by the door and walked over to the dining room, smiling when I saw him and then taking a seat at the table. "I'm getting better at controlling my power," I started off, watching as he looked up from his work to study me.

"How so?"

"Well, I went into someone's mind today and managed to just listen in to what they were thinking. It also had some flashbacks, and I managed to just listen to it all rather than steal it."

He nodded. "Why did you do that?"

"Someone said something to me and I wanted to know why. I thought that it was good practice, before I do anything any bigger.

"It is good practice, especially if you succeeded." He smiled and I breathed a small sigh of relief. "I trust that everything is okay with the reason why you listened in on this person?"

"Yep, everything's great."

"Good," he said and looked back down at the papers on the table.

I fiddled with my fingers, unsure of what to say. I was anxious to know whether he had seen anything in my mind regarding Brittany, or if he'd spotted us sleeping on the sofa, but I didn't know how to voice the concern without making it obvious that something is up with us. He hadn't said anything to me, or acted any differently since then, but that didn't mean that he didn't know anything.

I had the distinct impression that it was incredibly hard to keep anything from him.

He seemed to notice my fiddling, as he looked up and set his pen on the table again. "Are you doing anything today? Have any plans?"

I shook my head mutely.

"Is Brittany not coming over? You're not going over there?" he seemed a little surprised, and I was a little shocked that he guessed what I was thinking about.

"Nope. We've got some homework to do." I shifted in my seat, not knowing whether I wanted this conversation to continue or not. On one hand, I just wanted it over with and wanted to know one way or another, but then on the other, I was terrified and wanted to just forget about it all.

"Oh, I thought that you would have done it together, helped each other. You two are inseparable," he smiled.

"Uhh-yeah, well, y'know." I stuttered, fidgeting with my hands, unable to stay still.

He looked away and seemed to be thinking about something. It was quiet for a few seconds and I felt slightly awkward, my nervous rambling lingering in the air between us.

He looked back to me and smiled, looking me in the eyes "you know…Brittany is such an amazing girl," he looked away from me slightly as he continued, but smiled softly to let me know that he was being honest "she's so loving and caring, and that's just from what I have seen. I'm so thankful that you have someone like her. You have someone that you can lean on and trust implicitly, and I only wish that I had had, and even have now, what you have with her."

I looked down and then back up into his eyes that were searching out mine, touched by his words. I could feel myself tearing up slightly, but willed myself not to. I didn't know how exactly he meant what he said; he could just be taking it at face value and thinking that we're friends, but he looked like he meant more than that. My mother wouldn't be supportive - I had heard enough from her while growing up about how homosexuality is a sin, to know that she wouldn't support me now – so to know that I had one family member who would, meant so much to me.

It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I grinned at him, standing up and embracing him. He rose with my arms still around him, and I tucked my face into his chest. This was the first proper hug that I had had with him, and it felt incredible, knowing that I had a dad that I could rely on, no matter what.

"Thank you," I muttered into his chest, breathing in deeply.

"There's nothing to thank me for," he shook his head, but his arms tightened around me.

I pulled back and caught a glimpse of his tattoo before his arms returned to his side. It wasn't that I hadn't seen it before – I had, numerous times – but that I was only just realising the significance of it.

I smiled at him. "Actually, there is something that I need to do. I'll be back later, if that's alright?"

"Of course. Be safe." He kissed my forehead and then sat back down at the table.

I grabbed my bag and then left the house, searching for the destination on my phone.

* * *

><p>Stepping through the door I looked around, holding my head up high as I did so. I didn't want to draw attention to myself and seem inexperienced, so I made sure to keep my composure. I walked to the counter and tapped my fingers on the wood as I waited, looking at the pictures on the walls.<p>

A man walked up to the desk and smiled at me "what can I do for you?"

"I'd like this," I slid a piece of paper over to him and watched as he surveyed it.

"Where?"

"On the inside of my wrist," I turned my left hand over, to show him needlessly.

It was the same tattoo my dad had; a bold cursive B in the middle of a circle, with fine lines spreading out of it, like veins, or brainwaves. When I had first noticed his tattoo, I asked him what it meant and he told me that it was his family's tattoo. Their crest, of sorts. It links to our powers, to the mind, and anyone who knew of powers and the different sigils would know what we can do.

He had done so much for me, and I appreciated it more than I could ever say, so I wanted to do something to show that. Getting the Belvedere tattoo would show him that I considered him my father and accepted his role, as well as the rest of the Belvederes' roles, in my life.

Typically, the people in his family that had a power, both boys and girls, would get this tattoo when they turned fifteen. Obviously I was a little older, but I wanted to do this and show my allegiance to the family.

It didn't take long for him to do the tattoo, the circumference was only about an inch, so it was only the little details that took a while. I looked through my mind while he was inking it; checking it over and ignoring any pain I felt.

When he finished, he gave me some information on how to look after it and I paid him, leaving straight away.

I walked into my house and my dad was just walking past the door. "Have you done what you needed to?" he asked and I followed him into the living room.

"Yep," I popped the 'p'. "What are we having for dinner?"

"I was thinking takeout. How about pizza?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"Good. Pepperoni?" I nodded. "Can you pass me that menu?" he motioned to the table next to me and I grabbed it, passing it to him. "What's that on your arm?"

"Uhh…I got a tattoo. I um, I wanted to show you how much you mean to me and how happy I am that I'm a Belvedere, no matter what the surname is on my birth certificate." I was studying the tattoo as I spoke, not wanting to see if he was angry.

He stayed silent, so I chanced a look up and saw his eyes shining with tears. "You know, for seventeen years I wondered what it would be like to have a daughter; to have you. I missed you, and I imagined what you'd be like, but I never could have thought that you'd be like this. You're amazing, and I could have only wished that you'd be half as great as you actually are. I'm so glad that you're my daughter."

"I'm really glad that you're my father too. So, you don't mind that I had this tattoo done without asking you? Adopting the family crest like this?"

"Oh, not at all," he smiled. "I'm just happy that you wanted to in the first place, especially without me asking you to. You did it of your own accord, which is just so amazing to me."

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it before nodding to the phone "are you going to order that now?" I grinned.

* * *

><p>I walked out of the locker room with Brittany by the side, worn out from Cheerios practice. Coach Sylvester was worse than usual, pushing us harder than she had ever before and raving on about how we needed to be perfect for Nationals. I didn't know what had crawled up her ass and died, but I was glad that practice was over and done with.<p>

The stares that she had been casting my way throughout the whole thing was creepy enough as well. I didn't have any idea why, but she kept looking at me with a thoughtful look on her face. Whenever she saw that I was looking back though, she wiped her face clean of emotion and shouted at me to hurry up.

We turned a corner and saw a crowd formed around something. A few more steps revealed Rachel Berry, cowering before a football player who was holding a slushie.

I let go of Brittany's pinkie and rammed forward into the crowd, shouting out "stop!" but it was too late. The slushie exploded on her and the lockers around her, painting them an odd purple colour.

Everyone turned to look at me as I walked into the circle, Brittany stopping at the edge of it.

"What's up, Lopez?" Azimo Adams asked, nodding at me.

"You're not going to slushie Rachel anymore. No one is going to slushie her, or anyone in Glee Club. They are strictly off limits, and if I find out that anyone has done any differently, you'll regret it. D'you hear me?"

"Why? They're all losers; has being in Glee converted you? Are you a Glee loser too, Lopez?" he laughed.

"No, I'm not the loser. I realised something the other day, Azimio. Do you want to hear what?" I continued before he could say anything "we slushie people to make ourselves feel better; we bully them because we are jealous. We all stand here, not bothering to do anything with our lives, content to just stay here and be Lima Losers, while they," I pointed to Rachel, who was wiping the slushie out of her eyes "actually have dreams. They work to get where they want, and don't care about being knocked down, because they get right back up again. They fight for what they want. Can you say that you do the same?"

I left before he could say anything more, grabbing Rachel's arm to guide her away as Brittany picked up her bag from the floor. We walked in silence after we left the whispers behind us, and I pulled her into the toilets and over to the sink, turning the tap on.

I suddenly felt a sense of Déjà vu, remembering when the three of us had been in there before, with both Rachel and Brittany terrified of me. I marvelled at how much things had changed in the past six weeks. How I now had friends and had managed to change my attitude for the better.

"Why did you do that?" Rachel asked softly as I wet a paper towel and handed it to her.

"What you said to me yesterday made me think some things through and reconsider the way that I act. I'm not perfect, and I can't say that I'll never hurt you or the Glee Clubbers again, but I will try not to do so knowingly."

Brittany placed her hand on my lower back and smiled at me warmly when I looked up at her, mouthing "thank you."

I smiled and shrugged in reply, looking to the watch on my wrist. "The bell will ring soon. You should probably go, you don't want to be late."

"What about you?" Brittany asked.

"I have Spanish with Rachel, so I'll go back with her when she's cleaned up."

"Okay." She looked to Rachel, obviously mourning the lack of a goodbye kiss, so I grabbed her hand, pulling her into me so I could give her a goodbye hug. I kissed the shell of her ear softly, feeling her giggle vibrate through me. The hug lasted a few seconds longer than what might have been considered socially acceptable, but I couldn't find it in myself to care or let go.

She pulled away and smiled at me, squeezing my hand before leaving.

I watched Rachel in the mirror, the running water the only sound between us. "It's just as well your jumper is that colour, right? You can barely see the slushie." I felt awkward, having not had a normal conversation with her before, but I knew that I needed to start somewhere.

"Yeah. You really do like Brittany," she stated in a matter of fact tone, surprise slightly coating it.

"Uh…well yeah," I said, unsure of what exactly I should say.

"I caught that just now, you know, that moment," she smiled at me in the mirror and I shook my head in confusion. "You _really_ like her," she grinned.

I blanched a little, unaware that she had been watching us and not wanting to say anything without Brittany there. I suddenly regretted sending her away; she would know what to say right now.

"Don't worry, you don't need to talk about it. I knew that there was something different though; sapphic love makes so much sense now."

"Okay, you're done; let's go. Oh, and just because I said that I wouldn't knowingly do anything to hurt you, doesn't mean that I can control myself all of the time. I'd watch what you say if I were you; my quick temper is legendary around here."

She let out a little squeak and nodded rapidly, clearing everything up and then following me out of the door.

We walked into Spanish late, to find Mr Schuester teaching, as usual. I was a little relieved, because I didn't know if I'd be able to act normally if it were my father. He just smiled at us, understanding what happened, and we sat down I decided to sit next to Rachel this time, who seemed pleasantly surprised at my actions.

* * *

><p>We strolled through the park, our arms linked, keeping the other close to our bodies. I spotted a bench, so I lead her to it and then let her sit down, telling her "there's an ice-cream van right over there; wait here while I get us some?"<p>

She smiled and nodded "Mint-"

"Chocolate chip, I know," I finished for her, grinning at her blush. She nodded and settled into the bench more, watching as I walked off.

I stood at the van, behind a couple of other people, watching the ducks in the pond, that was right next to me. I glanced over my shoulder to look at Brittany only to find that she wasn't there. I frowned, wondering where she had gone.

I looked around and couldn't see her anywhere; I felt the panic mounting inside of me and suddenly heard my name being screamed, ripping from Brittany's throat in terror. I stepped away from the queue in the direction that we were sat, looking around wildly for her when I saw something a little further back from the bench.

Brittany was being shoved into a white van. The doors slammed shut behind her. Rico was standing there, staring at me, and when he saw that I was watching he sent me a smirk before jumping into the van and pulling away.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> So, I think it's safe to say that we're pretty much at the climax of the story. Please review and let me know what you thought and if there's anything that you'd like to see! :)

I have a tumblr at imaginebrittana . tumblr . com if you're interested :)


	23. Chapter 23

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Alloverme_, _Rosetoast_ and _knowthescore_ for the reviews! And to _EpicSouls_, _pepper6_, _Thundering Ice_, _andrx_ and _missnewvillage_ for the messages.

Massive thanks to _veiledgreyskies_ for being an amazing beta! :)

* * *

><p><strong>Previously: <strong>

Brittany was being shoved into a white van. The doors slammed shut behind her. Rico was standing there, staring at me, and when he saw that I was watching he sent me a smirk before jumping into the van and pulling away.

Chapter 23

"No!" I screamed, running after the van, not caring that there was no possible way to catch it. I had to do something. The van skidded around a corner, and the tyres squealed, I continued running a few more metres before I fell to my knees on the sidewalk, trying to catch my breath.

I couldn't process what had just happened. It was all so perfect; everything was going great, why would something like this happen now? Why would he want to kidnap Brittany? it was me they were supposed to be after now, not her.

Standing up, I looked around and then ran back to the park, knowing that I'd have a better chance of finding her and finding out exactly what happened if other people had seen it, that way I could try to get into their memories.

I got to the park and there were plenty of people milling around, but no one was thinking about what had just happened. I sighed in defeat, looking around for anything odd, but not seeing anything. I'd have to just look through my memory again, see if anything in particular was sticking out. I was glad that Justin had made me organise my mind; without that, this would be much harder.

Justin. I was so caught up in thinking about Brittany and how _I_ would get her back that I hadn't stopped to realise that I had a more than capable father who could help.

I rushed to my car and sped home, knowing that I couldn't leave Brittany with Rico any longer than necessary. He would do worse than kill her. I shuddered at that thought and pressed on the accelerator harder, keeping my mind open to cops all the while.

I got there in record time, but it was still thirty minutes after she had been taken. I had to clear my mind and be on my game; there was no way I could make a mistake now.

"Dad?" I called out as soon as I opened the door, the panic clear in my voice. "Dad, where are you? They've got Brittany!"

"What?" he asked, confused as he stepped out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair.

"We were at the park and…he took her. Rico. We need to go get her."

"That's impossible," he laughed, "she's being followed by a friend of mine; he wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"You were having her followed?" I asked incredulously, realising that he may have known about me and Brittany before he saw the clues in my mind and us sleeping on the sofa.

"I didn't trust Enzo or Rico not to do anything. You're sure that they took her?"

"Of course I'm sure, I was there! I watched him shove her into a van and drive away!"

He sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Okay, show me."

I nodded and sat down at the table, letting him sit opposite me before I brought the memory to the forefront of my mind and felt him enter. I made sure to start it when I was at the ice cream truck, not that anything before it was full of our relationship, but still. We watched it play out and I heard him take note of the van, but nothing else.

When it finished, he asked "can I see it from the beginning, please? I want to see if the van was there before; if they knew you were going to be there, if they were following you…"

I nodded and started it from the beginning, making sure to try to seem nonchalant about our conversation, not letting my embarrassment show through.

I was pretty sure that he already knew about us - he practically admitted that in our conversation - but while he said that he was happy about it, I didn't feel comfortable enough to parade it around in his face. The way I acted around Brittany was only for her to see, I felt like it was sacred between us, and I didn't want everyone seeing. If I had to choose someone else to see that though, he would probably be the one that I would choose.

"They weren't there before you got there; I'd say that they were following you. It is strange though that they didn't grab you, considering they had the chance and you are more of an enemy. I'd have thought that they were more anxious to resolve things with you, rather than Brittany."

"You're really not helping here," I nervously laughed, running a hand through my hair. "What are we going to do to get her back?"

"I'll need to phone my friend; there has to be a reason why he hasn't called by now, and we'll go from there."

I nodded and grabbed a drink from the fridge, fiddling with the bottle cap as he phoned his contact. It was silent until my phone rang out and I startled, spilling my drink everywhere.

I looked at Justin as I pulled it out, 'Ricardo' displayed on the screen.

"Where is she? You better not have hurt her!" I answered, standing up from my chair and gripping the table in front of me.

"She won't be hurt if you do as I say. It's simple, a straight swap; her for you."

"I…I'll get back to you," I said and then hung up, knowing he wouldn't do anything yet.

"What did he want?" Justin asked.

"To swap Brittany for me," I said softly, thinking about it.

"No, not at all." He caught that in my voice. "You're not going to just hand yourself over to him."

"What else can I do? He's got Brittany!"

He sighed and guided me to sit down at the table, sitting next to me.

"I couldn't get in touch with that person, but I have some other friends that might be able to help…they're like us."

"Like us?"

"They have powers."

"There are more people with powers?" I ask, leaning back in my seat, with shock.

"Yes, there are families with powers. Each family has a base power. For instance, ours is the mind. Each power in our family links to the mind, and it can be anything to do with that. Another family might be water, in which case they can affect the weather, the earth, even a person's body because it is made largely out of water; they could easily kill someone. No matter how insignificant the power may seem at first, it will always be helpful."

"Why do we have them, then? What makes us so special?"

"It's something in our genes that allows it to happen. I don't know exactly, I've never studied it, but other people have. We have to be careful who we tell about it, because if the wrong people find out, they will search for us. They already are. I'm just glad that Enzo doesn't know about that, otherwise it would be much easier for them to get rid of us."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I asked.

"It wasn't needed, you're smart enough to know that you can't tell everyone and I didn't want to worry you for no reason."

"How do you know them? Like, are the families all in contact with each other or something?"

"Some are. There are some that use their powers for evil, who we don't talk to. I've helped out my friends before though, I could call in a favour with them and see if they can help us."

"Okay. Well, can you phone them now? Every minute we spend here is another minute that Brittany is with _them_. You know what they're like."

"Okay." He stood up from the table and walked into the living room. I moved into my bedroom, looking at all of the pictures on my desk of Brittany and I together.

I picked up one in a frame that was sat on my bedside cabinet and traced my finger over Brittany's face, marvelling at how happy we looked. There was no way that I would leave her there with Rico.

Justin knocked on my door then and stepped inside, looking sorry. "They're all tied up at the moment, it'll be a few days before they can come down here themselves."

"But that's too long, we need to go and get her now!" I stood up and looked around the room, not sure what I was planning on doing.

"Sit down, Santana. We'll plan it out ourselves, it's fine."

"It's not fine," I mumbled, but sat down anyway. "I don't see why we need a plan, this is taking too long."

"We'll get ourselves killed without a plan."

"We'll get Brittany killed _with_ a plan."

"Santana," he warned and I sighed, looking away. When he was satisfied that I wouldn't argue anymore he continued "I can get my friend to lure Rico somewhere, then use my power to bring him back here."

"But you can't get ahold of your friend."

"I will be able to."

"Okay," I sighed, "Can I get changed now then?"

He nodded and left the room, smiling before he closed the door. As soon as he was gone I put some black clothes on and grabbed Rico's gun, sliding it in the back of my trousers, under my shirt and leather jacket. I looked at Brittany's picture one last time before I left my room, grabbing my keys as I went.

Justin was in the living room, and I made sure to be quiet as I skirted past it, keeping out of his line of sight until I reached the door. I quietly opened it, breathing a sigh of relief when I was outside.

I had no idea where Rico or Brittany would be, so I decided that the Lopez house would be the best place to start. If Rico wasn't there, surely one of the guards would know where they are or where Brittany was being kept.

I drove there, making sure to keep an eye out for any cars that may have been following me, and parked around the corner, in the same place I had last time I visited the house. I approached the house quietly, going through the woods and extending my mind to try and find Rico or a guard.

I came across a guard first and found him thinking about dragging Brittany into an abandoned warehouse and how much of a fighter she was. I grimaced, but was relieved that she seemed to be alive and ready to defend herself as much as she could; she had put our lessons to good use, according to the throbbing – and not the good kind – in his dick.

I quickly moved back to my car and sped away, not wanting to pass the house just in case they saw me and knew what I was doing. I hadn't heard anything in his mind about where Rico was, but I didn't care about that at the moment; Brittany was my main concern. I'd be able to deal with Rico anyway, whether he was there or not.

I knew of the warehouse from playing there in my childhood; Rico and I would always play hide and seek while Enzo was conducting business.

I pulled up to the block of warehouses and parked behind an old storage unit near the front that had the doors hanging open. It was easier to hide myself than a car if someone turned up unexpectedly.

I stepped out and grabbed the gun from my back, cocking it and holding it out in front of me. I stepped out of the warehouse and looked around, remembering where to go partly because of the guard. I kept to the sides of the warehouses, but couldn't see or hear anything.

Reaching the one I knew Brittany was being kept in, I glanced around and ran to the door, finding it chained shut. I walked around the whole building, looking for a way in, but all of the windows were bricked up. I looked around, seeing nothing in sight, but then remembered what my father had told me about my power.

I could use the skills of someone else, as long as I had a memory of them. It was dangerous, yes, but I had to get Brittany out, and the longer I took, the more danger I put her in.

I looked around one more time, checking that there was no one else around. I crouched down so I was eye level with the heavy padlock and placed the gun back in my trousers. Closing my eyes I retreated into my mind, finding a memory of someone else picking a lock, and hovering in it. I made sure to stay halfway in between that image and my own mind, so that I was able to see and hear both thoughts.

There was no way I could describe what it all looked like; the images were overlaying each other, but also kept changing to seem like a split screen in a video game. My mind didn't feel fully stabilised in this. Without my father there, I didn't know if I was doing something wrong, or if this was how it should look like.

I steadied myself and took a deep breath in, feeling my mind calm as I did so. I concentrated on the lock and my need to know how to open it, unsure of what else I could try to do at the moment. This was my first time trying it, and I didn't have time to phone Justin and ask him for help when I knew that he would shout at me for coming to find Brittany in the first place.

My hands moved automatically, the other person in my mind seemingly taking over. I could still feel what was happening and would be able to stop it at any time, but their presence seemed to be filling in the blanks of the skill that I was searching for.

I heard a click after about thirty seconds and smiled as it unlocked, easing myself back into my own mind again. Standing, I dusted myself off and pulled the gun back out, holding it with one hand as the other carefully pushed the door open so I could peer around it.

There were some empty shelves and I couldn't see or hear anyone, so I stepped inside and pushed it closed a little, making sure to put a brick in the doorway, just to stop it from shutting completely and locking me in. That had happened to me once, when I was younger. I had walked into one of these warehouses, exploring, when Rico shut the door behind me and locked me in.

I stuck to the shelves, not wanting to rush in case someone was waiting for me. I knew that it had been locked from the outside, so Brittany was likely the only person in here, but I didn't want to take that chance and get us both killed. No matter what my dad seemed to think, I wasn't completely dumb when it came to things like this. I had seen plenty of action films to know not to rush in straight away.

After walking down a few more rows of shelves, the room cleared and showed off an open space. I could see Brittany sat in the middle of it, tied to the chair completely, and gagged. She looked tired, her head hanging down with her hair creating a veil around her face, and I could see some dried blood streaking through it.

I looked around and put my gun away as I ran to her, peeling the tape off of her mouth first, being as gentle as I could. She winced, but didn't do much else as she lifted her head, looking around. Her lip was cracked and she had a bruise on one eye, but apart from that she didn't seem to be too injured.

Her eyes landed on me and she smiled lazily and mumbled out "San…I knew that you'd come," before her head fell limply forward against her chest again.

"Of course. What happened, Brittany?" I asked, moving behind her to try and untangle the ropes binding her wrists. I didn't have a knife, and couldn't see anything else to cut them with, so my hands would have to do for now. I wanted to kiss her so much, but knew that every second was precious, and I didn't want to risk wasting our lives for a kiss that I could have when we left that place.

I had almost freed her hands when I heard footsteps. I looked over Brittany's shoulder from my position behind her to see Rico walking towards us, a gun pointed at me, almost leisurely. I froze and straightened up, moving sideways and away from Brittany. I didn't want her being caught in the crossfire anymore.

He laughed "Santana…I knew that you'd find a way. Your father may be smart, and he's important enough to have Father worried about him, but he's obviously not that good if you managed to sneak out – you were never quiet when you lived with us – we always knew when you left and returned. _Always_."

"And who says that he doesn't know that I'm here and is walking in behind you right now?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow and getting ready to grab my gun when he turned around.

He didn't, he just looked unimpressed. "I know you too well, Santana; you wouldn't let anyone help you with this; you'd do it on your own. You've always been impatient. And even if you did, I've got men stationed all around here; there's no way Justin could get in without me knowing."

"He knows me as well; he'll come looking for me soon enough when he realises that I'm not at home. But let's settle this before then, yeah? You let Brittany go and we'll sort this out between us."

"No, I don't think that I'll do that. You see, she caused me a lot of trouble, so I'm not going to let her go now. I'm going to kill you both."

I looked back at her to see that she was a little more alert now, watching both of us. She didn't look scared though, and I wondered why, before turning back to Rico.

I thought through my choices, not happy with what I had, but then thought of something. I'd hate to do it, and it would be more than painful, but it would save Brittany. "The only reason you want to kill her is because of what she saw, right? Well, what if I remove her memories of it? I'll remove every memory that she's had of me, you, the Lopez family. She won't know who we are and so won't be able to get you in trouble."

"That's not the only reason. And now that I can see just how much you care for her, there's no way that I'm going to let her go. Now," he gestured with his gun "stand here so you can watch her die. You'll be next."

I shook my head and moved in front of Brittany, pulling my gun out and aiming it at him. It may have been more affective to use my power on him, but my mind was jumbled and working way too fast to be able to concentrate. Anything could happen if I tried to use my power in this state, and I didn't want to chance it.

"So you're going to kill me?" he chuckled "with my own gun. I wondered where that had disappeared to. It doesn't matter though, I'll have it back soon enough."

"I will if you don't let us go," I said, trying to ignore the shaking of my hand. I raised the other hand, gripping it with both.

"And what makes you think that I won't pull first?"

"You don't want it to be over this quick; you want to draw it out and make it last. Not like your father, is it? That's why he's not here; he doesn't know about any of this. After all, you wouldn't be here if he did. Why would he trust you with us, when you've failed so many times in the past?"

He clenched his jaw and looked away. I smirked, knowing I hit a weak spot.

He looked back, holding the gun tighter than before "How does it feel knowing that your biological father left because he didn't want you, had never wanted you, and that the man who raised you as his daughter always hated you and, again, never wanted you. You had the chance to have two fathers, and both wished that you didn't exist. Our mother regretted having you as well."

"You don't know what you're talking about," I shook my head. "My dad did want me – he does want me – it's your father that made him leave."

He edged around, but I countered his move, making sure to keep the same amount of distance between us.

"Oh? Is that what he told you?" Rico smirked "I've heard a very different story and…well, why would he lie to me? Justin is gaining everything from getting you on side; he has a little bitch that will do all of his dirty work."

"Fuck you," I snarled, my hand twitching on the gun.

"That's why you like her so much, isn't it? She's the only one that seemed remotely interested in you. You were so lonely and desperate for attention that you went to the town idiot to feel a little better about yourself."

"Don't you dare speak about her like that," I snarled, suddenly realising that I had moved around more than I thought and he was closer to Brittany than I was.

Brittany went to speak, but he strode over to her and hit the side of her head with the gun, making her and the chair topple onto its side. She cried out and I saw red, I charged at him and tackled him up against the wall.

His gun clattered to the floor, but he grabbed my neck with his now free hand, trying to push me off. I kneed him in his crotch and he doubled over, but yanked on my hair while he did so, throwing me down on the floor.

His foot lashed out at me, but I rolled over, narrowly missing it, and the next time he tried it I grabbed it and yanked him down so he was level with me.

"I'm not as weak as I was before all of this happened," I grunted as I rolled over and straddled him, raining a few punches down on his face.

He spat up at me as he managed to flip us, holding an arm down across my throat. He leaned down into me, resting all of his weight on me as he whispered heavily, but Brittany couldn't hear "you're right; you are stronger. Your girl seems to think so too; that's all she would talk about. The funny thing is, she's weak. Oh, the fun that I had with her. No matter what happened though, through everything," he smirked at me, breathing heavily into my face, "she still kept screaming your name. Even when we were in a position similar to the one we're in right now." He looked down at our bodies and chuckled.

"You bastard," I snarled, my mind lashing out at him. I wasn't sure what I did, but he fell back and off me, clutching his head and screaming. I followed him, pummelling blows upon him, wanting to release the anger that was flowing through me and give him what he deserved.

A hand landed gently on my shoulder and I stopped, resting my hands on the floor by his head as I felt the anger drain out of me slowly. He was still breathing, but I suddenly realised how turned off I had become to everything around me. How I was focused solely on revenge, not even self-preservation.

I looked over my shoulder to see that Brittany had managed to undo herself from the ropes binding her and was standing behind me, her hand resting on my shoulder. She squeezed it gently and I stood, pushing myself off of the ground.

"I'm sorry," I whispered when I was standing opposite her, looking into her eyes.

"For what?" she asked, scrunching her face adorably.

"For everything. It's my fault that this happened, my fault that I didn't get to you in time, my fault that I lost control. You'd be better off without me." I looked away as tears started falling from my eyes, not wanting to see her face when she agreed with me.

"No, no! Don't say that. You weren't here too late; he didn't do anything to me. I'm still standing, aren't I? And I chose to be with you; you didn't force me. Santana," she grabbed my chin gently and tilted it up, holding it there until I was looking into her eyes by myself. "I'm with you because I love you, and nothing that you do will change that."

Her expression didn't change, apart from a slight softening in her eyes, as if she was scared that I would turn her away now. "Really?" I asked. She chuckled a little, nodding and giving me a soft kiss on the lips. "Thank you," I whispered, but when I saw her face fall a little I quickly added "no, no, I mean I love you too. I really do. You have no idea how scared I was when he took you; how much I wanted to rush after you, and then just rush in here. I would have swapped myself for you in a heartbeat, but the only thing that stopped me was knowing that there was no way Rico would stick to his word."

"And you were right; he didn't. Thank you for coming to get me, Santana. For fighting him like that. You were so brave, and I was just…" she shrugged.

"No, you were just as brave. I wouldn't have been able to be locked somewhere with Ricardo for all this time. I wouldn't have been able to keep my cool like you did. I wasn't able to keep my cool; you saw what I did to him." I looked at him, then away again, seeing that he was unconscious and bloody.

"You saved us Santana. And killing him would have saved us too. I'm not saying that seeing you like that wasn't scary, because it was, but…it was also hot, seeing you so protective," she grinned and I laughed.

"I love you," I sighed, resting my forehead against hers.

"I love you too." She bridged the gap between us and connected our lips, kissing me slowly and deeply. I poured all of my love into it, trying to show her just how happy I was that we were back together again and that she was safe.

We parted and I looked back down at Rico, unsure of what to do with him. I glanced around the room and at that moment Justin walked out of an aisle, smiling in relief when he saw us.

"Thank god you're both alright; why did you come here without telling me anything?"

"I was worried about Brittany," I shrugged.

"Well…as long as you're both alright." He bent down and checked Rico's pulse, nodding after a few seconds. "He's fine; just a little beaten up. Have you thought about what you want to do?"

I nodded "I don't want to hurt him any more than he already is. I was thinking that maybe I could alter his memories? Take away everything relating to us and his family and make him think that he has another one somewhere else. Or that he did have another one. He'll leave and never return."  
>"Like Hermione did to her parents in Harry Potter," Brittany muttered and I smiled, chuckling a little. "Yes, exactly like that."<p>

"It would be hard. And time consuming. Do you really want to do that?"

"Yes, I don't want to sink to their level. This will have the same result as killing him, right? He won't bother us again."

"I was just checking; I agree with you on that count. There's been enough violence." I winced and he shook his head, "not with you, just in general. Wherever I've turned lately, there's been people after me, and it's nice to do the right thing for once. This all started because of Enzo's corruption, we don't have to follow it through and be as bad as he is."

I nodded. "Are we going to do this here then?"

"No, we don't know how long it will take, we and can't chance anyone walking in on us. We've been here for too long as it is. The truck is parked next to yours. I'll carry him to it."

I nodded and stepped back as he hoisted Rico over his shoulder, walking in front of us, with Rico's gun held out in front of him. I quickly picked up the gun that I had been using and followed, noticing Brittany's glance at it.

"What? Do you want to use it instead?" I offered it to her, and she shook her head, smiling lightly.

I fell back a little and made sure that Brittany was in between us, not wanting her to be in the most vulnerable places.

She glanced back at me, but when she was reassured that I was still following behind, she continued walking. I reached out and grabbed her hand with my free one, letting them hang between us.

We went to the cars quickly, so that no one else would be around to stop us. I got in my car, with Brittany getting in the passenger seat as Justin placed Rico in his car and then walked over to me. I rolled down my window.

"We'll take him back to our house to do this; nowhere else is safe enough at the moment. Follow behind me."

I nodded and waited for him to get back into his car before I started it up and followed him back. The music was on lowly in the background, but it was silent apart from that.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, scared to break the silence that had fallen on us. She nodded and hummed, but didn't say anything else. "What did they do to you?"

She turned to look at me, tucking one of her legs under her body. "Not too much. They wouldn't do anything without Ricardo's permission, and he wasn't there much. It's not like they even really had any time to do real damage; you saved me before that could happen."

I looked at her and then back out of the windscreen, worrying my lip between my teeth. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Ricardo said something to me, when we were fighting. You couldn't hear him…" at her encouraging look, I continued. "He said…I thought that he'd raped you."

She looked surprised and sat back in her seat a little. "No," she shook her head slowly, "he didn't do that. Oh, sweetheart, is that why you were so angry at him?"

I shrugged a little, so she rubbed her hand along my arm. "It's not the first time that he's thought about it." I closed my eyes before swiftly opening them again, remembering that I was meant to be driving and keeping Brittany safe. "I would have killed him if he had. I could have easily killed him, without even thinking about it. What kind of monster does that make me?"

"It doesn't make you a monster, Santana. You wanted to protect what is yours, and look after me, that is honourable. I'd do the same thing. If someone hurt or touched you, I'd kill them," she said it in such a matter-of-fact tone, her voice still light, that I wondered if I'd misheard her. She talked about it so casually. She seemed to figure out what I was thinking, "it's not that I'd find it easy or anything, but you're my girlfriend; if someone touched you without your permission, or hurt you, I'd want to get revenge. I promised that I won't let anything happen to you, and I intend to stick to that."

"Thank you," I smiled and squeezed her hand before parking the car in my space, getting out and meeting Justin at his car. I tossed my house keys to Brittany and pulled Rico out of the car, supporting him with Justin to make it look less suspicious if anyone saw us, as if we were helping a drunken friend.

We walked in and laid him on the sofa. I sat on the table in front of him. Brittany and my dad walked into the kitchen to leave me in silence and so I relaxed my mind, entering Ricardo's. He was thinking of nothing important, which I was happy about, because the last time he'd been thinking about what I removed, it damaged him.

I was unsure of where to start removing and altering his memories, but decided to start from his most recent ones, figuring that they'd be easier to access. I stripped everything about his family from his mind; his feelings about them, what they looked like, how he got on with them. Everything he knew about them was gone, and in its place was a happy family; one where they talked and played games and had movie nights.

While I was there, I altered some of his personality, for lack of a better word. I changed his opinions on certain things and made it so that it would be unlikely that he'd turn into the man that he was hours ago. The man that would kill for no reason other than money and cold-bloodedness.

He had lost his parents when he was eighteen and inherited all of their money; it wasn't a lot, but a modest amount, and he would live comfortably with it in the South.

I pulled back and looked around, noticing that it was light out, and the clock said that it was 6am. I had been doing that for hours, and felt the tiredness suddenly hit me. I stood up and walked into the kitchen and Justin was sat there, a cup of coffee in his hand and a bag sitting in the middle of the table.

"Done?" he asked when he saw me and I nodded tiredly, taking a seat opposite him.

"What's that?" I asked, nodding to the bag.

"Money for Ricardo. I went and got it while you were busy with him. I sent Brittany to your room to sleep," he added when he saw me looking around "and phoned her parents to let them know."

"Okay," I yawned, my eyes watering at the strength of it.

"Go to bed. I'll sort him out, and we can talk more about everything once you've had some rest." He stood up from the table and walked around to me. "You were brave today, and I'm so proud of you. Not many would do or act the way you did." He kissed me on the forehead and walked into the living room, picking up the bag from the table as he went.

I pushed myself up from the table slowly and dragged myself to my room, smiling when I saw Brittany sprawled out, the covers tangled around her. I changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top before crawling into bed, nuzzling into Brittany's side as her arm wound around me and she mumbled into my hair.

There were still problems to resolve and fights to end, but at that moment, all I wanted to do was forget about everything and fall asleep with my girlfriend.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! I hope that you enjoyed it.

Please review and let me know what you thought.

I have a tumblr at imaginebrittana . tumblr . com if you're interested :) I posted a picture of what the Belvedere tattoo looks like on there, so it's there if you want to know.


	24. Chapter 24

**A.N.** Thanks again to _gg-lithium_, _skittlevania13_, _andrx_ and _gaga4brittana_ for the reviews! And to _pepper6_ for the messages :)

As always, a giant thanks to my beta _veiledgreyskies_!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 24<span>

My eyebrow furrowed as I felt something tickle the end of my nose and I twitched it, trying to dislodge whatever was there. I sighed tiredly and tried to fall back asleep but when it happened again I lazily rose my hand to my face, batting it away. When it happened for the third time I groaned and a giggle reached my ears, making me crack my eyes open to see Brittany sat next to me, her legs crossed, and a feather held in her hand.

"Afternoon, Sleepyhead."

"You're evil," I groaned, rubbing at my face and rolling over onto my back to look at her.

She smiled and lay down next to me, playing with my hair as she asked "how are you doing?"

"I'm the one that should be asking you that."

"You stayed up all night sorting out Rico's memories," Brittany explained.

"It needed to be done," I shrugged. "I take it that he's gone now?"

"Yep. He was gone when I woke up. Like Santa," she grinned.

I laughed, pulling her into me and kissing her languidly, thoroughly enjoying the way that it made my head spin and heart beat faster. "I love you," I whispered and she grinned, deepening the kiss.

"I love you too." She rolled me over and straddled my hips, grabbing my hands in hers, interlocking our fingers and placing them either side of my head. "You're my hero," she murmured between kisses and I shook my head, about to protest when she shushed me and kissed me deeper, her tongue stroking along mine, easing in and out of my mouth.

She pulled away and I let out a whimper, she sent me a smirk as she rose to lock the door. I sat up "is he home?"

"Nope. He went out to talk to one of his friends and said that he'd be a while."

I nodded as she returned to my bed and met me in the middle, kissing me deeply again. She went to push me down, but I shook my head, turning us around and gently lowering her until she was on her back. I settled on her hips lightly, wiggling a little as I did so and she let out a deep groan.

A smile crept over my lips as I leant down and kissed her roughly until she was breathless. I trailed open mouthed kisses down her jaw and neck as she tried to catch her breath, the sound of it filling the room, and she moaned, bucking up into me slightly. I changed my position, straddling one of her thighs, my knee close to her centre.

My hands ran over her body and I realised that she wasn't wearing a bra. Moving my hands under her shirt, they trailed over her stomach and she groaned "please Santana, no more teasing."

I stopped and looked up at her "are you sure? We can wait?"

As soon as she had locked the door, I knew that she wanted to go all the way and have sex. We had been taking it slow, making out a lot, but always stopping before sex, leaving both of us heated. I didn't want to push her, and I wanted it to be special; because of it being our first time, but more importantly her first altogether.

She nodded and gripped my chin gently in her hands, pulling me up her body and kissing me deeply and softly. "No, I want to."

"This…this isn't about yesterday, is it? You're not just doing this because we could have died?" I whispered feeling a little insecure, but more than anything, not wanting her to regret anything about this.

"No. I've wanted to for a while, all yesterday did was remind me how delicate our lives are, and how we should live every second to the fullest. I want this, Santana. I want you."

"Then you can have me," I nodded, lowering myself onto her; our mouths connecting once again and our tongues battling as I ran my hands over her body and moved my knee so that it was pressed against her, eliciting a hoarse moan.

* * *

><p>We were laying next to each other on our sides, our foreheads pressed lightly together, breath mingling, and hands clasped at out sides.<p>

"That was amazing," Brittany grinned lazily, tilting her head so she could give me a soft, slow kiss.

I hummed and nodded slightly, and when she let go of my lips with a wet pop I exhaled "you were amazing."

Brittany blushed even more, tinting her cheeks an even darker red then they had been before. "So were you. It was perfect, San; I'm so happy that you're my first."

"So am I." I looked down. "I'm just upset that I can't say the same-"

"Don't be," Brittany shook her head. "I don't mind that you've been with people before me; that's normal. Just make sure that there will be no one after me and we'll be fine." She poked her tongue out at me and I gnashed my teeth at it, pecking her lips before moving back a bit.

"We should have a shower now; my dad will probably be back soon, and I don't particularly want him to know that we just had sex."

"Finding us like this wouldn't be your worst problem. What you really have to worry about it not letting him see it when he's in your mind." She laughed, but my eyes widened, imagining the mortification I would feel if that happened.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that. Now I'm going to be trying not to think about it, which means that he will more than likely see it. Brittany!" I whined.

"You'll be fine, I trust you to keep that locked away, so only you can remember it when you're missing me and need a little _relief_," she grinned and then shot out of bed, running into the bathroom.

"Hey, I resent that!" I shouted as I arrived at the bathroom door and heard the shower turn on. I tried the handle, but it was locked, and I groaned. "I'm not allowed in?"

"Nope. You can go remember that in the other shower though if you want, that's free. I wouldn't want to stop you from having a little you time."

"Fine," I called through the door as I turned around "I'll get you back for this."

"Uh huh," I heard Brittany chuckle.

I grabbed my clothes and opened my window as I left my bedroom, making sure to close the door on the way out. I showered quickly, wanting to get back to Brittany. As I walked back into my room, I saw her just putting her hair up in a ponytail.

She smiled softly and then her stomach rumbled, causing her to blush vividly. "Come on, we better feed the beast." I laughed with a wink thrown in.

She shook her head, but followed me, and sat down at the table as I walked around and grabbed some food out of the fridge to make an omelette. Justin walked in when I was cooking it and smiled tiredly, sitting down at the table as well.

"Do you want some?" I asked, and at a nod I continued "is everything alright?"

"I can't get in touch with my friend who was watching over Brittany," he shrugged. "I'm not sure what to think."

"As in…?"

"As in I don't know whether he was ever truly on my side, or if Enzo found out something's happened to him."

I nodded and dished out the food "so we might not have anyone on the inside?"

"I honestly don't know at the moment."

We ate our food in relative silence, and when we were finished, Brittany cleared her throat. "I was thinking about what we said when Santana first moved in here, and I was wondering if I'd still be able to live here as well? I know that Rico is gone now, but Enzo is still here, more dangerous, and I don't feel safe in my own house anymore."

I looked at Brittany surprised, having not known how she felt, and she shrugged shyly.

"I was thinking about that earlier," Justin said. "It would be safer and more convenient for you to live with us. I just don't know what your parents would say to that; I can't imagine that they would just let you leave them."

"I'd still see them," Brittany muttered. "But I've thought about that as well, and I think that we should all go there for dinner and talk about it. Also…if they say no, or are going to say no…" Brittany looked at the table as she finished her sentence "then I want you to do whatever you need to do in order to change their minds."

I looked to Justin and saw that his expression was probably mirroring my own; shock. I had thought that Brittany would do whatever she could to protect her family, and while this was her doing that, I was still in disbelief that she would want to do this to them.

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

She looked up and nodded her head, uttering a "yes," with one hundred percent certainty.

"Okay, well, why don't you phone up and say that I want to meet your parents, and suggest a nice family dinner then?" he asked.

She nodded and excused herself from the table, moving into my bedroom to make the call.

"You'll really do that?" I asked, when I was sure that Brittany couldn't hear us. "You'll go into her parents' minds?"

"If that's the only other option. She's right, Santana. They know what she looks like and where she lives, they know everything about her. If Brittany lives with us and we make it known, her parents and sister will be safe, and so will Brittany."

"Yeah, you're right," I nodded, "I just don't like the idea of doing that to her parents. They're such nice, loving people, and to do that would make me feel guilty. But I know that it's what we need to do," I shrugged.

He nodded and stood up from the table, "I'm going to go to bed for a few hours, see if I can get some sleep before we go out tonight. I stood up and washed the dishes before going back into my room, seeing Brittany sprawled out on the bed.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, perching on the edge next to her.

She shrugged "just thinking about tonight."

"You can take it back, y'know? He doesn't have to make them change their minds if they don't agree to it."

"I know, but it's the safest thing to do. And I'll still see them and everything, go over a lot. I just won't be living there."

"Well as long as you know that you can back out at any time," I said.

"Do you not want me to do this?" she asked, turning on her side to face me.

"I want you to do what you want to do. I just don't want you to regret it; once it's done, it's done, and you can't take it back."

"Do you regret doing that to Ricardo?" she asked, grabbing my hand and playing with my fingers.

"I don't regret it, no," I shook my head. "But…he was my brother, and no matter how horrible and corrupted he got as he grew older, I'm still going to miss the little boy that I grew up with, the boy that was my protective older brother. But what you've asked my dad to do is completely different, it's not like it will change their personalities, or that you'll never see them again."

"Thank you," she pulled my hand to her mouth and kissed each finger delicately. "And if you ever want to talk about Rico or your family, you know that I'm here, right?"

"But he tried to kill you. More than once."

"Ricardo tried to kill me, Rico didn't."

I looked down at her and wondered how I'd found someone so amazing. I leaned down and kissed her, showing her my gratitude.

* * *

><p>Music was playing lowly in the background as I opened my eyes and looked around. Brittany was singing and dancing to it, wiggling her hips as she applied her makeup effortlessly, and I wondered how she could do both at the same time. I'd end up poking myself in the eye if I even tried to do that.<p>

I shifted a little and sat up on my elbows to watch her from a better angle, but she stopped dancing and turned to face me. Her singing stopped as she said "I was going to wake you up in a minute, but you looked too peaceful."

"I'm sorry that I fell asleep on you."

"Don't be. A lot has happened lately, and I wanted to let you rest for as long as you could."

I nodded and stood up, walking over to my wardrobe and looking through my clothes. I couldn't find anything there, so I walked over to the speakers and turned them up more, hoping that the music would help me think. I looked through the closet three more times and still didn't have any idea of what I should wear. I glanced over my shoulder to see Brittany watching me with a fond smile.

"Having trouble?" she asked.

"What should I wear?" I whined, looking though all of my clothes again.

"Santana, you've had dinner with them plenty of times before; whatever you wear will be perfect."

"But that was when I wasn't your girlfriend!"

"So you're saying that I should dress up whenever I have a meal with you and your father?" she smiled.

"No. I…" she raised her eyebrow and I sighed, conceding her point. "Okay, fine. But this is a formal dinner anyway; both of our families will be there; this has never happened before."

"Then wear something that's smart casual," she grinned, walking over to me and poking me in the sides. I flinched and let out a little squeal, jumping back and out of her way. "Okay, okay! Thank you."

"You're very welcome," she nodded, kissing me on the lips as she passed me to get to my drawers. She already had one drawer full of clothes at the moment, from whenever she would stay over and leave them here.

She chose her clothes and I managed to decide on mine. We changed at the same time, sneaking glances at each other when we thought that we weren't watching. Brittany was ready to leave, having done her hair and makeup when I was asleep, so she sat on the bed and watched me, fiddling with her phone every now and then.

"Quinn texted me today, asked why we weren't in school," Brittany said, catching my eyes in the mirror.

"What did you say?"

"That I was planning on seducing you, and wanted to do it when your father was out," she smirked.

"Britt!" I laughed, smudging my makeup in the process. I removed that part and started again as she held her hands up and turned more serious, shrugging lightly, "I told her that we weren't feeling well and that we didn't want to pass it on to her anyway, especially not Rachel or someone in Glee Club."

"That was a good excuse," I smiled.

"Yeah, but I don't like lying to them, I feel like a hypocrite." I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut over me "I know that I need to lie about this, but it doesn't make it any easier. I just can't wait until it is all over and I can be myself and tell the truth once again."

"It will be soon," I promised, placing the makeup down and moving to kneel in front of her. "Rico is gone, so it's only Enzo we have to worry about now, and I can't imagine that he'll do anything to us anytime soon. But we'll do something to make sure that it doesn't happen. I won't let him hurt us any more than he already has."

"Thank you, Santana," she smiled, pulling me up and over her, so I was supporting myself on the bed, over her head.

"Was this your plan all along, Miss Pierce?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "To get me unawares, so you could spring on me and have your wicked way with me?"

"I've been planning nothing else," she whispered, bringing me down into a kiss.

"Are you-oh, sorry!" I jumped off of Brittany and smoothed my clothes down, not that there was anything wrong with them in the first place, and looked to Justin. He span around and walked back out of the room, closing the door behind him. His muffled voice could be heard through it, and I ran to turn the speakers down, so we could hear him properly. "I did knock, but you didn't answer. I just wanted to check that you were ready to leave in a minute, but ummm…" he coughed "it looks like you are. We're leaving in a minute, so finish getting ready."

I heard his footsteps receding and looked to Brittany, seeing that her face was bright red and she was biting her lip. Her face suddenly broke and she let out a huge laugh, clamping a hand over her mouth as soon as it was released, obviously struggling to keep any more from escaping.

"It's not funny!" I said, embarrassed beyond belief. "He probably thinks that we were about to have sex!"

"Weren't we?" she asked in an almost serious tone before she started giggling.

"No, I…Brittany! It's alright for you, but he's my dad. Imagine if your dad walked in on us."

Her face sobered a little and she let out an "okay, okay," breathing deeply. It was silent for a couple more seconds when her face cracked again and she started laughing, tears starting to fall from her eyes. "It's just…his face," she croaked, sounding like she was barely able to breathe.

"Ugh, get up, you horndog," I chuckled, unable to stay completely serious, throwing her bag to her, grateful that she caught it and it hadn't hit her in the face.

She stood up and checked that she had everything in her bag, and I did the same with mine, also checking my makeup in the mirror before I left the room. I opened the door, with Brittany behind me.

"Oh, and by the way," I muttered as we stepped into the hallway "if he makes us sleep in separate rooms now, it's totally your fault."

"Awww, no!" she whined, and I could hear the pout clear in her voice. "I'm sorry for laughing; you're right, it's not funny. Can we just make sure that that doesn't happen, please?"

I turned back to look at her and smirked at the look on her face "we can try."

We walked up to the front door, seeing Justin standing there with a bottle of wine in his hand. He looked slightly embarrassed when he saw us, but when he saw that we felt the same as him, he quickly brushed past it and returned to his normal self, checking that we had everything before leaving.

It was quiet in the car, and I had never been so thankful for the radio before, but even with that, it seemed to be a little uncomfortable.

"Oh," I remembered "I forgot to ask you earlier, but what did you do with Rico? Like, where did you drop him off?"

He looked at me in the mirror as he replied "I bought him a new car and took him to the birthplace of Thomas Edison. I had him make his way 'home' from there. He seemed fine. I didn't let him see me, but I watched as he looked around the place, and he seemed to be interested in it. You did well, Santana; he seems like a new man."

"Thank you," I murmured, happy that it seemed to have worked this time. It was such a relief, knowing that we didn't have to worry about him anymore.

We pulled up to the house, Justin parking in the driveway, and I saw the curtain twitch. Brittany groaned at that and I chuckled, stepping out of the car and holding the door open for Brittany. I waited for Justin to walk around and then we walked up the path together, Brittany slightly leading.

She rang the doorbell and I heard Emily's feet thunder down the stairs as she called "I'll get it!" but it opened before she could. Susan was standing in the doorway, smiling brightly at us.

"Santana!" Emily launched herself into my arms and I fell back a couple of steps as I struggled to stay standing. My dad's hand on my back steadied me, and I smiled gratefully before spinning her around and placing her back on the floor, ruffling her hair.

"Hey, Squid. How goes it?"

"Don't mess my hair up," she whined, flattening it down. She noticed my dad then and backed away slightly, hiding behind me a little.

"Em, this is my father, Justin. Dad, this is Emily, Brittany's sister."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." He bowed and held his hand out, waiting for Emily to give him her hand. She looked up at me, so I placed her hand in his and he brought it up to his lips then straightened, saying "Santana and Brittany have told me so much about you."

She giggled "they haven't told me anything about you."

"Hey!" I poked her sides and she laughed, running back inside. I looked to the door and saw that Mr Pierce was now standing there as well.

"Come in, come in," he beckoned when he saw that we were no longer preoccupied with Emily. "I'm sorry for Emily, she can be a handful. I am Brian Pierce, by the way."

Justin handed them the bottle of wine as he introduced himself. "Justin Belvedere," he shook his hand, and then Susan's as she told him her name. I saw them exchange a look of surprise when they heard his last name, looking to me, but then quickly smiled again "And don't apologise about her, she seems lovely."

"Don't be fooled," Brittany shook her head. "She really isn't."

"Brittany," her mom scolded good-naturedly, and then beckoned us into the dining room. "You were right on time, the food has just finished cooking."

We sat down in the seats they somewhat guided us to, leaving them as the heads of the table, with Brittany sat next to Emily and me next to my father. Brittany sent her mum a look when she told her who she had to sit next to, but her mom quickly said that she could sit opposite me instead, which would have to be good enough. Brittany nodded and sat down, and as soon as I did I felt her foot reach out for mine.

I smiled, but hid that around my glass as I took a sip of the drink placed in front of me.

Her parents returned with the food, some kind of pasta dish, with normal bread and garlic bread. We all served ourselves and started eating, complimenting them both on the food, which they accepted with thanks.

The only sound for a while was the scraping of knives and forks on plates, but then Brittany cleared her throat, looking up and down the table at both of her parents. I rested my cutlery against my plate, but still kept hold of it, keeping my attention on Brittany.

"Mom, Dad, you know that I love you, right?" she started, and I cringed slightly, knowing that that was going to set them on edge straight away.

They both sat up straighter and her mom said "yes, Sweetie, of course. What's the matter?"

"There's nothing the matter, I just wanted to ask you something."

Her parents exchanged glances and then her dad spoke up "go on then, ask away."

She looked to me and I smiled at her encouragingly, reaching out with my foot, just to let her know that I was there. "I want to move in with Santana and Justin for a little while."

It was silent at the table for a few seconds, and I could see that they were surprised at what had been said. Brittany bit her lip and looked between both of them, worried.

"Emily, go up to your room," her dad's voice said curtly.

"No, I don't-"

"Now," he said, still calmly, but with something that I hadn't heard before. She huffed, but slowly pushed back from the table and walked up the stairs, stomping on every step and then slamming her bedroom door closed.

"And what do you think of this?" Susan asked my dad, turning so she could face him properly.

He cleared his throat "I think that it would be a pleasure to have your daughter live with us for a little while."

Her parents sighed, obviously unhappy with the answer, and I looked at Brittany to see how she was doing. She nodded almost imperceptibly to me, so I nudged Justin with my elbow to let him know that he should change their minds now. He inclined his head in my direction and they fell silent, a blank look on their faces.

After about twenty seconds Mrs Pierce said "I think that it is a lovely idea, testing the waters; a way to see what it will be like when you decide to move in with each other when you are older." Mr Pierce hummed his agreement and we both blushed, looking down at the table.

Things definitely weren't easier, but they seemed to be falling into place, even if that was by taking advantage of people with our powers. I only hoped that this would be over soon and I wouldn't have to use my power like this ever again.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! Please review and let me know what you thought of it :)

I'm going to post the Lopez Crest on tumblr sometime, so if you want to see what it looks like, just follow me at imaginebrittana . tumblr . com.


	25. Chapter 25

**A.N.** Thanks again to _gg-lithium_, _SystematicHooliganism_ and _Mystia45_ for the reviews! I've reached 100 now, so thank you to everyone who has reviewed ^_^ Thanks to _pepper6_ and _lolote62_ for the messages.

Massive thanks to my beta _Veiledgreyskies_! :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 25<span>

Brittany and I stayed home the next day, on account of still being sore and worn out from everything with Rico. We had phoned Quinn up when we got back to my house after our dinner at Brittany's parents, informing her that we wouldn't be in tomorrow. We didn't want her to worry any more than she had to, and figured that maybe she could stamp out any rumours if they appeared, at least the ones within Glee Club. She thanked us for letting her know, but warned us that we should come back soon and to be careful when we did. Quinn didn't elaborate too much in that, instead leaving us to think over that warning.

We had spent our Wednesday off school moving most of her belongings to my house with the help of my father. It took a few trips; Justin was driving his truck, with Brittany and I in my car, we got her moved in quickly enough, it was just the rearranging that took a little longer.

My bedroom was fairly big, and while we did have a spare bedroom that Brittany could use, we all knew that there would be no point in that as she would always end up staying in my room. I had thought that my father would want us staying in separate rooms, but when he realised that that was what I was thinking, he reassured me that he trusted us to do the right thing, and that he could do with that room for research anyway. We were still up against Enzo, and we had other dangerous people after us as well, so he wanted a room to be able to organise everything that he had collected.

I was surprised at how fast it had taken her to move in, and when it was all put together in my room, it felt normal and more natural than it ever had before. No matter how embarrassed I had been when Brittany's mom had said it, it did kind of feel like practice for when we would have our own house or apartment, because I was definitely planning on that.

We had finished moving her in and then went out for lunch with my father, in the little diner that I had first talked to him in. I felt so comfortable and happy with the both of them, we felt like a little family. Of course, we wouldn't forget about Brittany's family, and she would still go to see them, but at that moment, when the three of us were eating dinner, relaxing and joking with each other, I felt more at home than I ever had before.

* * *

><p>I opened my car door as Brittany did the same, stepping out and rounding it so that we met at the front. We were parked in front of the school and I watched as the students milled around and walked in ignoring us. It was early, and not many people were there yet, only the nerds and people who had to be dropped off early, as well as some Cheerios and their boyfriends.<p>

I smiled at Brittany and we walked in. I hadn't thought much on Quinn's warning about being careful in school, but when I saw people staring at us and whispering, with more laughter than usual, I prickled, thinking back on what she had said. I didn't know why they were looking at us like that; we weren't close enough to hear any conversations, and when we were they quietened. I definitely wanted to find out what was happening. The Cheerios rushed off when they saw me, obviously not wanting to be the last on the field.

We didn't need to walk to our lockers yet; we had Cheerios practice first, so we walked to the field, looking out for Quinn on our way. I was hoping she could tell us what was going on. When we got to the practice area, I noticed that the majority of the girls were already there, and that there were quite a few jocks on the bleachers, both groups in their own separate huddles.

When they noticed us arriving, the girls spread out a little, but still stayed together, not the line that they had to take with me at the beginning of practice. I paused and surveyed them, trying to figure out what was wrong with them.

They looked different.

I looked to all of their faces and saw that most of them were smirking, but some did look anxious and apologetic. I frowned and looked up at the bleachers, seeing the jocks hitting each other on the arms, pointing down at us, and I felt a sense of dread.

I had an idea of what was happening, but was praying that I was wrong. Either way, I was sure that I didn't want Brittany here for what was about to happen. I turned to her. "Hey, Britt. I, uh, just realised that I left my phone in the car. D'you think you could go and get it for me please? I'm worried about why Quinn isn't here yet. We won't start without you."

She looked from me to the girls, slightly confused, and I handed her the keys. She nodded and sent me a smile as she spun around, taking a few bounds before one of the girls called out "hey, Brittany, where are you going? We want to talk to you quickly."

She turned back around and looked at them, recognising the girl that had called out to her and smiled, jogging back to us and stopping in between me and the group of girls. "Sorry," she smiled. "What was it you wanted?"

I stepped up to Brittany's side and looked at them all, my face hard in an unspoken warning.

They ignored me and looked to each other, daring someone to speak. They were silent for a couple of seconds and I cleared my throat. "We don't have time for this; we have Nationals to win, and we can't do that with you all standing around gossiping. Talk after if you want, but for now we're going to practice and practice enough that we'll win the title without even trying. Now line up!"

They didn't move and I frowned. "You know that Coach Sylvester watches us from her office; what do you think she'll say when she sees us all standing around doing nothing?" I tried again.

They were silent and stared at me stonily and I shifted, feeling uncomfortable and powerless. I had never felt like that; I always had the power at the school, and didn't know what had happened to suddenly take have it taken away from me. To make them feel like they had the power to defy my orders.

They noticed my reaction and smirked, letting some laughs out. A girl in the middle of the front row stepped out, and I recognised her as one of the more accomplished dancers. One that wanted to make something of herself, and was always trying to better herself and knock me off of my top spot.

"I don't think that Coach Sylvester will care," she announced. She seemed to be waiting for me to say something, but I only raised an eyebrow in return, so she continued. "Not when she knows your little secret. Not when everyone here knows your secret."

I felt my heart stop beating, before it started up again, doubly as fast. "What do you mean?" I asked, trying to let out a little laugh, but not completely succeeding. It sounded nervous and shaky to my ears.

She looked back to the girls behind her, and then over my shoulder. I followed her line of sight and saw that the jocks had descended from the bleachers and made their way behind us, standing in a similar fashion to the Cheerios. I was unsure of where to look now, but her voice drew my attention back to her.

"We don't like dykes," she grinned. "Isn't that right?" the people surrounding us laughed, and I could see the girls nodding along with her, but I didn't dare look behind me to see what the boys were doing. I felt Brittany stiffen beside me, and heard a breath of air leave her lips, but I didn't feel like I could move at the moment or do anything to comfort her.

I didn't know how they had found out, but I was sure that they were going to make their feelings on the subject known.

"We don't like dykes," she continued, "and neither does Coach Sylvester. We don't want you as Head Cheerio, and you'll be kicked out of that spot soon enough. But even though we hates lesbians," she walked towards us and stopped behind Brittany, observing her "we have to admit that you're a match made in heaven. Or hell, you know, considering. After all, who else would want to be with the town idiot and resident bitch but you two? And you can't have children, which is even better; saving the world from anyone else with your genes."

"Get away from her," I lashed out, shoving her away as she continued to stare Brittany down. I could feel Brittany shaking and grabbed her hand in my own, holding it against my side and letting her lean her weight into me a bit.

My mind was working in overdrive and I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, or even what I should do. It might be best to walk away, but then I would be relinquishing my hold over them and giving them permission to treat us any way they wanted for the rest of our time in school. I could stay and stick up for us, but then I'd be subjecting Brittany to more torment and abuse, and she seemed to be shaken already. Whatever I did would negatively impact her in some way or another, and I hated that. I had to pick the lesser of the two evils, and I wasn't sure what that was.

"Cat got your tongue?" she mocked. Brittany melted into my side even more, seemingly wanting to disappear, and I let her; it was the only thing that I could offer her in support at the moment. I couldn't believe that as soon as everything seemed to be going well again, something even shittier came along to make our lives harder.

"Well wow, it really does look like we've silenced Santana Lopez. Maybe Brittany's stupidity did rub off on you; it sure looks like it, with the amount she seems to hang around her. I'd be surprised if anyone's IQ managed to remain intact after being around her for an hour."

My mind suddenly started up again; there was no way I was going to let them badmouth us – badmouth Brittany – and get away with it. "Don't you dare talk about my girlfriend like that," I snarled, surging forward and gripping her hair in my hands, yanking her so she was close to my face. "You've forgotten your place."

She laughed and I could tell that she was about to spit in my face, so I kneed her stomach, but kept ahold of her hair as she attempted to bend over and grab hold of it.

"Stop the violence!" Brittany cried out and I turned to look at her, seeing her knelt on the floor, looking scared. I remembered her past and how she hated school fights, they reminded her of her old school. I let the girl drop to the floor and jogged back to Brittany, ignoring everyone else who was just watching in surprise. Falling to the floor beside Brittany I grabbed her face in my hands.

"I'm sorry, Britt," I whispered "I just couldn't let them say all of that stuff about us. About you."

"No, don't be, it's fine. Can we just go now?" she asked and I nodded, rising and pulling her up with me. We walked a few steps away when a hand grabbed my arm and span me around, so I was facing the girl from before.

"What do you think you're doing? You can't just leave now; we're going to finish this."

"No, I don't think so," I said, but she yanked the arm that she was still holding, so I stumbled toward her, my hand tearing from Brittany's grip. I heard her protest and then turned to see the girl's boyfriend grab Brittany, holding onto her arms. She was struggling in his grip, but it didn't seem to be a problem for him.

I struck the girl with my hand, catching her face, and she quickly let go of me, hissing at the pain in her nose. "You should thank me," I laughed, "it's an improvement."

She lunged toward and I leaped back, suddenly hearing a noise behind me. I turned to see my father, Quinn, Coach Sylvester and Mr Schue running towards us. The girl didn't seem to care and she rammed into my back and then flipped me over, so she could get to my face. I avoided her punches and grabbed her hands in mine, not wanting to hit her and then risk being suspended. If they saw that I was just a victim, she might be the only one getting in trouble.

I felt her weight get lifted off me, and then I was pulled up off of the ground as well. My father was holding her, and Coach Sue had helped me up, but when she saw that I wasn't struggling, she let me go to see Brittany.

A lot of the spectators had tried to run off when they saw the teachers, but Coach Sylvester grabbed her megaphone and shouted "I know who all of you are, and if I don't, my Cheerios do. If you leave now, you will be expelled from this school, are we clear?"

I saw them trudge back to where we were all situated, but I focussed my attention on Brittany, ignoring the screaming and struggling that was still happening with the girl my dad was holding. Quinn was standing with Brittany when I reached them.

"What happened?" Quinn asked "I mean, I heard that they were going to confront you, which is why I turned up with the teachers, but I thought that it would only be a warning."

I shrugged, but didn't say anything, and Brittany jumped at me, engulfing me in a hug. I could feel her trembling against me, and I rubbed her back gently, turning us around so she couldn't see the big crowd of people behind us, even though her face was buried in my neck anyway.

I could hear and see them all talking, but ignored them, not wanting to hear what else they had to say. I looked at my dad and gestured in the direction of my car, asking if we could leave now. He nodded his assent and I smiled.

"Hey, Britt, we can leave now if you want. How about we go to my car, yeah?"

She nodded against me and then pulled out of my embrace, linking arms with me and Quinn. We walked quickly, wanting to get away from the noises, and when we reached my car I unlocked it and got into the backseat with Brittany so she could still cuddle against me if she wanted, leaving Quinn to sit in the front.

"How did you know what was happening?" I asked Quinn once we were all settled, Brittany curled up against my side, cuddling my arm to her chest while Quinn was leaning against the dashboard, looking back at us.

"One of the girls texted me this morning. A few of them weren't happy about it, and were threatened into it. I was running late and couldn't get here on time, but I did text you. When you didn't reply, I figured that it had already happened or you didn't get it, so I went and got help. Did they manage to get you?" she asked Brittany, gesturing to her face.

Brittany's injuries were still visible from when Rico had taken her; her lip had healed a bit and wasn't that noticeable, but the bruise on her eye certainly was.

She looked to me and I shrugged slightly against her, unsure of what she wanted to tell her. I knew that she didn't like lying, but we both knew that she wouldn't really be able to tell Quinn everything that had happened.

"No," she coughed out and sat up a little straighter. "It happened before that."

"Wait, why? Who did it?"

"It doesn't matter," she smiled "it's over now."

"And you're safe?" Quinn looked to me, and I could see her thinking it through, connecting this to the times when I had injuries and wouldn't tell her where I got them. I nodded minutely, and she relaxed the tiniest bit.

"Yep," Brittany popped the P.

"Great." She looked at her watch "we should go to class now, but if you hadn't already figured, the whole school kinda knows about you two."

"Yeah, we got that idea," I sighed. "Well, I have Chemistry with Puck now, which will be a sack load of fun," I said, sarcasm lacing my tone.

"You don't have to go; skip it if you want?" Brittany sat back a bit, concerned.

"Nah, it's fine, nothing will happen. And I need to confront him about it sooner or later."

She nodded and we all got out of the car, walking into the school.

It was crowded now, with a lot of the Cheerios and jocks absent, but enough of the other students to make up for it. I could see them all looking at us, and Brittany – from her place in between me and Quinn – seemed more aware of it this time as well, hunching her shoulders and looking to the ground.

I spotted Jew Fro rushing towards us and looked for somewhere to hide, but it was too late. He stopped in front of Brittany, barring our way, but looked at me, holding the microphone out in between us.

His camera man hurried up to him, and I saw a glance pass between them before he started talking. "Santana Lopez, is it true-"

I shoved the camera away from me and cut over him "No, get out of our way." I pushed him away and tried to pull Brittany behind me, but he jogged up to us again, holding out his arm between me and Brittany.

I recoiled back, not wanting anything of mine to touch him, and he took advantage of that, positioning himself in between Brittany, Quinn, and myself.

"Brittany Pierce, are the rumours that you are romantically involved with Santana Lopez in any way true?"

"Uhh…" Brittany's eyes flickered from the camera, to Jew Fro, to the microphone shoved into her face, and then to the large crowd surrounding us, noticing Puck stood amongst it.

I shoved my way back to her side, shuddering at the thought of the germs that must be crawling over my skin from having to push Jew Fro aside. I grabbed Brittany's hand and faced him and the camera.

"If you have anything to ask, ask me and not Brittany. Yes, it is true that we are in a relationship. If I find out that you've been saying things to my _girlfriend_, or even asking her something, you _will_ regret it. Now, we've answered your question, so you can respectively leave us in peace." I pushed past him and pulled Brittany gently along, feeling Quinn guide her from behind.

"Is it also true that the reason for the both of your injuries lately is because people found out about your relationship and were not happy about it?"

I stopped and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. He looked excited, like he had hit on something big. I scoffed "no, that is not true."

"It's not Santana's fault at all," Brittany looked me in the eyes as she said it, showing me that she absolutely believed what she had just said. She may have been certain in that, but I still wasn't convinced, however I smiled and nodded for the sake of the camera.

Brittany tugged on my hand and I continued moving, leaving Jew Fro and the camera behind, walking through the crowd that parted for us.

They walked me to my class, because they shared the same one, and we stopped when we were at the door, Quinn a few steps away. "Thanks for walking me," I smiled. "And sorry for earlier on the field. I shouldn't have froze up when they confronted us, I should have just left and not got into a fight with her."

"You don't need to apologise for that, Santana." Brittany cupped my cheek lightly, bending her neck so she could look me in the eyes easier. "It's not me that you need to worry about protecting, but yourself. I love you too much to let you be as selfless as you have been lately. You need to learn to be selfish. And I'm so proud of you for telling everyone about us. You didn't have to do that; you could've ignored it or lied, but you faced up to it. Proudly so. In front of all of these people who you've been fighting against and trying to prove yourself to your whole life."

"Of course I did, Britt. I'm proud of who you are and what we have, and I would shout it from the rooftops – shout it on national television – if you asked me to."

She looked down to my lips and then back into my eyes and I smiled shyly, doing the same with her. We leaned in slightly, when my eyes caught movement over her shoulder and I saw Puck leaning against the lockers behind her, arms crossed, watching us intently. I froze and she noticed straight away, glancing over her shoulder to see what I was looking at.

Her jaw tightened and she looked back to me, standing straight again. "You don't have to do this, you know? We can skip; you don't need to be in the same room as him."

"No, I need to do it. And what's he going to do in a class with thirty people?" I smiled up at her and ran my hands down her arms to calm her down a little.

She relaxed and smiled softly at me "I'm sorry, you're right. Just…just text me so that I know you're alright, yeah?"

I nodded and pecked her lips as the bell rang, people brushing past us to enter. I looked to Quinn and waved goodbye as I entered the classroom, feeling Puck's presence behind me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I shifted as I followed the group of people into the room. I didn't want to chance sitting next to him, and knew that I most likely would end up like that if I sat in my normal seat, so I found one in between two people and sat down, ignoring the way they stared at me in surprise and moved away from me as much as the table would allow.

I smiled in triumph and then heard a chair on the table behind me drag against the floor. I turned around to see Puck taking a seat directly behind me, smirking when he caught my eye. I turned back around and closed my eyes softly, willing myself to keep it together and not let him know how much he was affecting me.

The lesson passed slowly, but I managed to calm myself down and get on with the work by thinking about what my father and Brittany would want me to do. I couldn't draw more attention to myself, especially not when it involved Puck, so I ignored him as best I could.

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, but I noticed that Puck was still following me around. I met up with Brittany and Quinn after each lesson though, and we sat with Sam, Mike and Tina for lunch, ignoring the looks cast to us by everyone else. It was Glee soon enough, so I met Brittany and Quinn outside my class, making sure to rush away before Rachel could catch me; she had been in that lesson with me, Spanish, and kept trying to get my attention, but I didn't feel like dealing with her at that moment.

We stopped off at our lockers before we entered the choir room, and when everyone noticed that we had entered, the room quietened considerably. I ignored everyone staring at us and steered Brittany to the back row, but Rachel stepped in front of us, holding her hands out in front of her.

"I would like to congratulate you both on finding the courage to come out to me and our classmates. We were all surprised, but delighted to hear of your Sapphic orientation and that you have found lo…a relationship with each other. While some in this school may not be fully supportive of your newfound relationship, I feel like you should know that we are, and I am here anytime for you to talk to. My dads have brought me up in an accepting environment, and I know a lot about the LGBT events in this area, and the problems that they suffer." She took a deep breath to continue, as her previous paragraph had been rushed out, like it was all one sentence, but I started talking before she could.

"Yes, Rachel, I think we get the point. Shall we start with Glee now?"

She nodded and clapped her hands excitedly, skipping to the front of the class room. Brittany smirked at me and Quinn just shook her head as we took our seats.

* * *

><p>Brittany, Quinn and I left the choir room and made our way to the lockers, talking about the performances in Glee Club. We got halfway there when I stopped, tugging on Brittany's hand to get her attention.<p>

"What's the matter?" she asked, turning to face me.

"Nothing, I just forgot my bag. You two go on to your lockers; I'll just run back and get it."

"Are you sure? We can come with?" Quinn asked.

"No, it's cool. Just meet at mine when you're done at yours," I smiled and turned away, jogging back down the hall in the direction of the choir room. I turned a corner and then bumped into Puck, cursing under my breath as he startled me.

He smirked and held my bag out to me "looking for this?"

I grabbed it off of him and looked up into his face, nodding my thanks. "Look, I don't know where we went wrong, but we used to be good friends when we were younger, right?" I asked. He didn't say anything, just shrugged lightly. "I know that you'd say that Rico is your friend, but we both know that he never really was – he just uses people. I think that you should rethink whose side you are on."

He laughed, his head tilting back from the humour he seemed to find in that statement. "You think that I'll leave your father and come work for you instead?"

"There's worse things you could do. You're only there for Rico, because he's your friend, but he's not here anymore, so there's no point in sticking around. You need to think about which side you think is actually the winning one; Enzo, whose son is missing and is finding everything falling apart around him; or my father and I, the people who have unlimited resources and friends, the people who have Enzo terrified to even step out of the house. You don't need to decide now; you have my number. Just don't follow me around anymore, because I'm getting fed up with it. Next time I catch you doing that, I'll make sure that you regret your actions."

I left before he could say anything, knowing that the best way to cope with Puck was to let him think it through himself. I planted what I needed to start it off, but I was sure that with a little thinking from him, he would change his mind and leave Enzo.

I was almost at my locker when my phone started ringing and I frowned, wondering who it would be. Anna's name flashed up on screen and I panicked, worrying that something had happened to her. I walked into the toilets that I had just passed and checked that it was empty before answering the call.

"Santana? Where are you?"

"In the school, why? What's the matter?"

"Enzo knows that something happened to Rico and he isn't pleased; he's going to go after you and your father, maybe even Brittany."

I sighed and hung my head, knowing that this was inevitable, but I had hoped that we would have had a little more time before this started again. "When and what do we have to do?"

"Can you come over tonight? We can all have dinner and discuss it more then, I don't feel comfortable talking about this over the phone. This way, I can also meet Brittany more formally and get to have that dinner with the two of you that I mentioned a while ago."

I chuckled at that and nodded, even though she couldn't see it. "Yeah, okay, that sounds good. What time?"

"Seven thirty?"

"Yep, I'll let Justin and Brittany know, see you then," I hung up and pocketed my phone, worrying about the upcoming news. It sounded like we'd have to worry about Enzo sooner than anticipated, and while it means that everything will be over and done with quicker, there was no guarantee that we'd be able to get ourselves ready or find any help in such a short time.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! Please review and let me know what you think. :)

My tumblr is imaginebrittana if you want to check out any things that I posted about this story. It's under the 'Stuck in Shadows' tag on it. I will also be posting some more things on there, when I get around to it :)


	26. Chapter 26

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Mystia45_ and _Cyan55_ for the reviews.

Massive thanks to my beta _veiledgreyskies_! :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 26<span>

I looked at Brittany and smiled at the nervous pout on her face "you'll be fine, don't worry about it."

"No I won't," her voice was hushed, she glanced over at Justin in the driver's seat before looking back to me. "Last time it was barely a meeting, we never really got to talk, but this time I'm meeting her as your girlfriend and I'm sure that she has such an expectation of what I'm going to be like and what you deserve. I'm not going to live up to that."

"Of course you are; she loves you already. She didn't even have to meet you to know that you were special. She told me that…that anyone who can make me smile so big and be as happy as I am, has to be pretty amazing." I blushed and looked away, still a little unused to talking too much about my feelings. Brittany had coaxed me out of it a bit, and I was much more confident and comfortable talking about it, but it still occasionally made me feel vulnerable, especially when there were other people around.

"She really said that?" she asked quietly.

"Uh huh. And that was before we were officially going out. My feelings for you have grown since then, and so hers have as well." I glanced out of the window and furrowed my brow, looking back at her "that sounded weird, didn't it?"

"A little," she giggled.

"You know what I mean though, right?"

She nodded "yes, I do. Thank you."

"You have nothing to thank me for. It's practically law that I have to tell my girlfriend how amazing she is and that anyone she meets loves her."

"Including you?" she beamed.

"Including me." I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, aware that my father was in the car and we would be getting to Anna's house anytime now.

I pulled away and looked out of the windows, suddenly wondering "how do you know where Anna lives? I didn't think that you knew her?"

He looked through the rear-view mirror at me "I talked to her the other day when I was looking for you and Brittany. I figured that she might have some idea where you were, or at least be able to help me with something. I'd heard you talk about her before. I haven't actually met her, but she gave me her address for if something ever happened and I needed her help."

I nodded as we pulled up to her house, and hopped out of the car once he had parked in the garage that she had left open for us. We walked to a door that connected the garage to the house, with me and Brittany in front and Justin behind. We didn't go through the front door on the off chance that there was someone watching the house. Obviously we had driven in and they'd have seen the car, but we didn't want to take any more chances than we had to. Plus, the car windows were blacked out, so it would seem as though I was the only one driving, which would be less suspicious.

Anna opened the door after a minute and smiled brightly at us, ushering us inside, "Santana, and Brittany! It's so lovely to see you again." She gave us a hug each and then turned to Justin as he shut the door behind him. "And you must be Justin, it's nice to finally meet you."

"And you, I've heard so much about you from Santana. Thank you for looking after her all of these years." He offered his hand, but she pulled him into a hug.

"She made it easy," Anna smiled, pulling out of the hug and leading us into the dining room. "Your timing is perfect though, the food is just about done. You can sit down at the table and I'll bring it right out."

My father sat down and I nodded for Brittany to do the same as I followed Anna to the kitchen. "I'm really sorry that I haven't been very good with communication lately, it's just been so hectic, I haven't been able to think. How are you?"

"They've pretty much left me alone, if that's what you're asking. They've been too busy and stressed over everything else to take much note of me."

I nodded and grabbed some of the food, following her back into the dining room and placing it in the middle. The table was circular, not used to seating so many people, and so I sat next to Brittany and Anna, my father opposite me. I knew that they would want to talk more about the problems we had and ways to solve them, so figured that it would be easier to do that when they were sat next to each other.

We all dished our food out and after we had been eating for a couple of minutes, Anna cleared her throat slightly and turned to look at me and Brittany. "So, Santana, you still haven't told me anything about how you and Brittany met."

"Oh yeah," I smiled "well, the first time we met? She slushied me." Justin snorted, his food almost leaving his mouth, and I shot him a disgusted look which he didn't catch as he was trying to swallow any remaining food.

"Santana!" Brittany cried out. "I didn't. Well…at least…I didn't mean to."

That set Justin off into laughter and Anna chuckled at all of us "You _accidentally_ slushied her?"

"Well yeah, she walked round a corner and wasn't looking where she was going," she grinned.

"Neither were you," I pointed out, and she merely shrugged. "Brittany may have not made an amazing first impression, in terms of that, but neither did I," I admitted. "I threatened her."

"That doesn't surprise me," Anna shook her head. "What does surprise me is that it didn't scare Brittany off.

"I'll never understand why she kept giving me chances," I said, looking to Brittany.

"And I don't think that I'll understand why you let me in and didn't follow up on your threats," Brittany smirked.

"She's a big softie at heart," Anna chuckled and we all laughed, Brittany nodding along to show her agreement. I just shrugged, knowing that it was true and everyone there already knew it.

"But yeah," I continued "something about her drew me in, and I couldn't help but want to know more about her. She really helped me as well; without Brittany, I'd have no friends."

"That's not true, you were getting there," Brittany said.

I shrugged and took another bite of food.

"When did you get together then? What happened?"

"Officially? A little over a week ago. But really it was like…a month ago. And nothing in particular really happened, it was just…really natural. Right, Britt?"

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling at everyone. "It feels like we've known each other for years, and we forget to do the traditional things that couples do. Like actually ask if the other wants to be official and be your girlfriend," she laughed.

"That is too sweet," Anna gushed. "I knew that there was something special between you two though, as soon as I saw Santana acting differently and then mention that there was a Brittany in her life."

I smiled and continued eating, aware of the blush coating my cheeks. Brittany's hand made its way to my knee and squeezed it gently. I looked at her to find her gazing at me, her eyes crinkled softly, a fond smile on her lips. I looked down and then back up at her a second later when she squeezed my leg again.

"I love you," she whispered under her breath, I could just barely hear it.

I could hear Justin and Anna talking in the background, and my eyes didn't leave hers as I whispered, just as quietly, but in no way lacking emotion, "I love you too."

She moved her hand up my leg to grab my hand that was resting on my thigh, intertwining our fingers together, letting them rest there. I knew that if someone looked at our arms, the positioning would definitely look suspect, but I couldn't find it in myself to care.

She picked up her fork with her other hand and started eating again, and I did the same, joining in the conversation Anna and Justin were having. As we finished eating our food, a light babble surrounded us and we moved into the living room at Anna's nod, Brittany and I sharing the sofa as Anna and my father took separate chairs.

It didn't look as warm as it did when I had been here before; the fire wasn't crackling, instead the overhead light was illuminating our features. We knew that we'd have to talk about the unpleasant topics now, so we all looked sombre and slightly stiff.

"What's happened, Anna?" my dad started off, turning his body so he faced her a bit more.

"I feel like I should be asking you the same question; what did you do to Rico?"

"We didn't kill him," I shook my head. "I found Brittany and stopped Rico, knocking him out. Then Dad arrived and we took him back to our house so I could…make him forget everything about Lima and our family. After I did that he dropped Rico off somewhere else with the money and means to start a new life far away from here."

Anna nodded, thoughtful. "I'm proud of you, you could have easily turned on him and killed him, but instead you built a better life for him. You're much more grown up than we ever thought you were."

"Is it a bad thing to want to end all of this, without any blood shed or anymore violence?" I asked.

"No, not a bad thing, just maybe not all that realistic, especially with how Enzo is acting and feeling at the moment. He knows that you had something to do with Rico's disappearance and thinks that you killed him; he wants to get revenge, obviously. He's been talking to people lately, trying to find out for sure what happened and why you would go after Rico, he doesn't know that he kidnapped Brittany. Once he finds out what happened though, he'll try even harder to find a way to kill you and your father, if not Brittany as well."

Brittany shifted and I looked to her, seeing that she had lost all of the colour in her face and she clutched on to my hand even tighter. "I'm sorry that I dragged you into this," I mumbled.

"No, I started all of this off. If he had killed me that night, none of this would be happening and you would still be living with your family, happily."

"I was never happy there," I shook my head. "And if he had killed you, I'd have never been able to forgive myself."

I pulled her hand over to me a bit more, letting her lean into me, and then turned my attention back to Anna and Justin. "Sorry," I shrugged and they nodded.

"What are his plans so far?" Justin asked, placing his hands together and against his lips, almost as if he was praying. It was what he did when he was stressed out and concentrating, it seemed to help him think.

"He's mainly trying to find out what happened to Rico for the moment, but he does have men out looking for something or someone to bring you down with. He knows that you're the most dangerous, so he can't risk going against you without a backup plan or a lot of protection. He does know that Santana is your weakness though; if he can get her, which will be much easier than getting you, on account of your powers, then he's pretty much guaranteed you. He would set it up as a trap, obviously, have the area surrounded and kill you when you turn up. This is all I've heard so far though, he might change his mind."

"Well then, I guess I need to get in contact with my friends again and see if they can come down here and help us out. If he's getting help, it's only fair to even the playing field."

"What else?" I asked. "Surely that can't just be your plan? We need to talk about it and hash it out, have a bunch of plans in case other ones fall through."

"Yes, but it will be easier to do that once I have talked to all of my friends and know which ones, if any, can make it. They all have different strengths, and so we would have to play according to those."

"But what about now? He's trying to find out more about what happened that Monday; should we do something to try to stop him?"

"What can we do?" he laughed. "It might be good if he finds out though, it might make him go a little easier on us if something goes wrong. But then again, he hates powers and so for us to do that to his son, it would definitely make him more than angry. He may see this as a weakness though, letting Rico go without killing him, which would make him underestimate us. It's hard to guess what way his reaction will go at the moment."

I sighed and put my head in my hands, thinking. I was glad that I'd already spoken to Puck; if this was all my father was planning on doing at the moment, I wanted to make sure that we had some kind of advantage in the meantime. I didn't know for sure if Puck would join us, but I had played on his weaknesses and tried to make him remember the boy that he used to be, when we were friends and how we'd taken care of each other. Of course, it had been a long time since then, and it was my fault that we were no longer friends, but if he knows that I want to regain what we once had, it might sway him a little more.

I tapped my fingers against the table, thinking it through. I didn't know whether to tell them or not. On the one hand, it would warn them and let them know that I also had a plan which could help, but on the other, Justin would likely disagree with having Puck join us and would try to dissuade me from it. It was too late now, either way, but I didn't particularly want to face that at the moment anyway.

I looked at Brittany and smiled faintly at the way she seemed to be engrossed in the conversation, her brow crinkled in thought, with her tongue sticking out of her mouth cutely in concentration. She looked so adorable at that moment, and I could feel myself relaxing, drawing out of my thoughts and back into the conversation taking place.

Anna was talking, and what she was saying grabbed my attention, making me snap upright. "I could try to find out something, I'm sure that it wouldn't be hard. He's taking less notice of me now more than ever, and so it shouldn't be too hard to find out what he's planning on doing. You could always give me some bugs which I could plant in his office, because it's impossible for me to listen in on his conversations when he's in there."

"No," I shook my head firmly. "No way. You're not doing that. We don't need to find out what he's doing just yet anyway. As dad said, we can find out if his friends can help us out, then we'll work on figuring out what Enzo plans on doing."

"You don't need to protect me, Santana. We all need to do our part and this would be me doing mine."

"You've done more than enough. Last time you tried to help me out, they almost killed you. I'm not letting you put yourself in trouble again, especially when we all know that if he finds out you're the mole this time, killing you would be the least of your worries."

"Santana," Anna sighed, shaking her head.

"Anna's right," my dad cut in "this is what needs to happen. It's not like any of us have been in less dangerous circumstances. We've all been put in danger in the last few weeks, this will be nothing new. If we want any hope of beating him, we need to find out what he is planning."

"What if I have something that might work?" I asked desperately.

"What do you mean?"

"I might have someone on the inside; someone who Enzo trusts. If you just wait and don't do anything for a few days, I'll find out and let you know."

"Who is this person?" Justin asked, suspicious.

"I can't tell you yet," I shook my head, knowing that it wouldn't help Anna in the slightest, "but you'll find out if he joins us anyway. Just give me a few days?" I pleaded.

He looked to Anna and they seemed to have a silent conversation before they both nodded and he sighed out "okay, fine. Two days, and if you don't have an answer by then, Anna will be helping us."

I pursed my lips, but nodded, happy that he gave me a chance. "Thank you."

"You have to understand, Santana. I don't want Anna to go in as much as you don't, we all know that we don't want any more violence, but we need to find out what is happening in his head, and this might just be the only way to do so."

"I know," I smiled tightly, nodding.

He looked at his watch and his eyes widened in surprise. "I didn't realise that it was so late, sorry for intruding so long. We better leave now, there's still a lot to do. Thank you for a lovely dinner, Anna." He stood from the table, and we all followed suit,

"You weren't intruding at all, it was lovely having you all around and meeting you. Feel free to pop around again, it's nice having some company," Anna smiled.

I grimaced a little, feeling guilty that I never saw her any more, even though I thought of her as my mom. "Thank you, Anna. I'll be sure to come around more once all of this is over."

She smiled and pulled me into a hug when we got to the door. "It's no problem at all. I'll look forward to it."

She pulled away and then grabbed Brittany in a hug, whispering in her ear. I looked at them, wondering what she was saying, but knowing that there must have been some reason to her whispering it, so I didn't try to listen in. Not that I wouldn't try to get it out of Brittany when we got home later. Brittany chuckled and then Anna moved on to Justin, giving him a quick hug before opening the garage door.

"Thank you for coming around, and good luck," she smiled at all of us. "Keep me updated on what is happening, alright?"

We nodded and got in the car, Brittany and I waving goodbye as we pulled away. The drive home was silent; each of us in our own thoughts, reflecting on everything that had been mentioned. I kept looking at Justin through the rearview mirror, but his face was blank, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

My hand inched across the seat next to me, searching out for Brittany's, and she complied, meeting me halfway and lacing our fingers together. We pulled up to our house and walked inside quietly, Justin moving to his bedroom, informing us that he would be making a lot of phone calls, while Brittany and I decided to watch television.

We both grabbed a drink each and moved to the living room, turning the TV on and grabbing a blanket before settling down, Brittany curling into my side and resting her head on my shoulder, while I gently rested my head on hers.

We switched to a random channel and started watching what was on, concentrating more on each other and the feeling of being able to relax after a stressful, rather than whatever was playing on the television at that moment. We would have gone straight into my bedroom to relax there, but I wanted to talk to my father when he was finished on the phone, and I knew that he wouldn't want to go to my room to talk to us. Last time he had, it hadn't ended well for any of us.

I could hear his voice every now and then, so I turned the TV up, not wanting to hear bits and pieces; that would only make me more anxious, trying to figure out what was being said and if anyone would be able to come here and help us in time or not.

Brittany seemed to understand my dilemma. She tugged on my arm and repositioned us so that she was lying behind me on the couch, her front to my back, spooning. Her arm wound its way over my waist and her fingers weaved through mine. I brought them up so they were resting against my chest and then kissed each of her fingers softly, revelling in the feel of them against my lips and the way her breath lightly hit the back of my neck.

It made me think of when I slept over Brittany's house before, how we woke up in a similar position to this. I smiled, reassured by how natural and easy loving her was. It felt like I always had loved her on some level, and I would feel like I was lying if I said that that wasn't true.

The sofa was tiny, so I was pressed up against her as much as possible, I could feel her heart beating against my back, as my own heart slowed to beat in synchronisation with hers. It had calmed down instantly and I smiled against her hand, still not used to how she could affect me so much.

I heard Justin's door open and his footsteps approaching us, I sat up a little and we moved back to our previous position, cuddled against each other, only slightly less. There was no urgency to our actions; not minding a great deal if he saw us, but not wanting to make him feel awkward or anything.

He sat down next to me, making us scooch up the couch so he could fit on, and placed his phone on the arm of the chair, so he could answer it quickly if he needed to. He turned and tucked one leg under himself as he did, smiling at us.

"I just finished talking to everyone, and a few of them can make it down tomorrow. There's a few that can't make it, some that didn't answer, and then a few that can get here in a few days. There's not a lot, but it would definitely be helpful, even if all they do is help me plan something. We might be able to end this just by showing that we have enough people on our side; Enzo might relent and agree to back off, but that isn't guaranteed.

"So what can they do then? The ones that are coming here?"

"Well there's someone who can bend water, who I mentioned before, one who can turn themselves and others invisible and then someone who can teleport; she'll be the one bringing everyone here. It beats spending money on flights," he grinned. "There's also one other person that will be here tomorrow," he said, looking a little nervous.

"Who?" I asked.

"Your aunt, my sister," he shrugged, looking a little sheepish.

"You have a sister?" Brittany asked, surprised, and I nodded slowly, not knowing that either.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before," he looked to me "but I've been so busy and it just…slipped my mind."

I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic but stopped myself, knowing that he must have had a reason for not telling me. I didn't want to say something that I would regret, and I knew that it was likely when I was so strung out over everything that had happened that day.

I nodded and yawned, tired but also just wanting to leave so I could think everything through.

"I think that I'm going to bed now, I'll see you tomorrow?"

He smiled, standing up and kissing the top of my head, "I think that I'm going to bed now, I'll see you tomorrow?" He laid a hand on Brittany's shoulder as he passed.

She smiled up at him, muttering a "night."

"Goodnight girls, sleep well."

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Please review and let me know what you think? :)

Thank you for reading and sticking with me/the story for this long. It's almost over now, not too long left :)


	27. Chapter 27

**A.N.** Thanks again to _gg-lithium_, _bumblebey0131_, _AlessandraFelix_, _ImbaPie_, _gaga4brittana_ and _Cyan55_ for the reviews! :)

A massive thanks and a giant 'Happy Birthday' to my beta _veiledgreyskies_, who looked over this chapter even though she was busy with birthday things! :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 27<span>

I was sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in my hands, trying desperately to wake up. I hadn't slept well the night before, mainly because I was both eager and anxious to meet Justin's friends and his sister; my aunt. I kept wondering what they were like, if they knew about me, if they would be able to help us out at all. All of my worrying had affected me this morning, I felt groggy and kept falling asleep at the kitchen table, wishing that I didn't have to go to school.

I had tried getting out of it, saying that I wanted to meet his friends and my aunt, but Justin had told me that they wouldn't be arriving until the afternoon and that he had things to do around the house, so I would only be in the way. Plus, I couldn't afford to draw more attention to myself and Brittany, our absences were already suspicious, so I would have to go.

Brittany waltzed into the kitchen then, having had no problems with sleeping last night, and I remembered the other thing that was keeping me up; any time I leant back down to fall asleep, Brittany's face had been right there, and I couldn't help but study her, admiring the way her brow scrunched up slightly in her sleep, her face playing with the emotions brought out in her dreams.

I smiled up at her tiredly and she grinned, perching on the seat next to me and resting her feet in my lap, under the table. "What's up, Sleepyhead?"

"Everything," I groaned. "Can we just not go to school? We can skip and hang out at the park or something instead."

"We need to go, San. That wouldn't be safe anyway, especially if no one knew where we were. Besides, don't you need to go and see what Puck says about joining our side?"

"What-?" my face twisted in confusion. "How did you…?"

"I know you, and I've been thinking for a while that you'd try to convince Puck to do the right thing. He's not a bad guy, and I think that he deserves this chance to make everything right."

"The thing is that he is a bad guy though," I whispered, aware that Justin was in the house somewhere and could overhear us at any moment. "That's all everyone that has anything to do with this knows. If I even say the name 'Puck' to Anna or Justin, they'll know that I mean one of Enzo's men. Someone who got a knife out on me and is dangerous. They're not going to want to give him a second chance."

"Just because he is perceived as a bad guy, it doesn't mean that he is one. It's not the actions that determine someone's personality, but the intentions behind them. If we talk to him and figure that out, we'll know if you've done the right thing and will be able to persuade everyone that you're right in what you've done."

"And if not?" I asked.

"If not," Brittany smiled, nudging her shoulder against mine "then you can rescind your invitation to have him on our side. Anyway, all you have to do to see if he's telling the truth or not is look into his head, the same for your father."

"You're so smart, Britt," I sighed, leaning my head against her shoulder. "Where have you been all my life?" I groaned dramatically, but still half serious about it.

"Getting ready to sweep you off your feet," she lifted her shoulder up, so I looked up at her and captured her lips in a kiss, feeling her smile against it.

I grinned too, unable to hold the kiss, and whined "Britt!"

She shook her head against mine, pecking my lips once before standing and pulling me up with her. "Come on, you need to have a shower and get ready for school." I followed her instructions, letting her guide me into the bathroom, her hands on my waist as she walked behind me. "I think you can take it from here," she whispered as we walked into the bathroom.

Brittany pulled away and I spun slightly, grabbing her forearms and pulling her back in against me "I don't think so," I shook my head and leaned up to kiss her "I think that I might just fall over and drown without a little help."

She chuckled against my lips, but then silenced when I deepened the kiss. "We have school soon and you really need to shower," she murmured.

"Yes," I agreed, walking her backwards so that the door shut as I pressed her against it. I reached around her to lock it and then placed my hands on her hips, rubbing small circles into them, leaning up to kiss her again. "And we can shower. In fact, I think that I will be extra clean by the end of it."

"Your dad is home."

"Then we'll be quiet. The shower will be running anyway." I let our tongues run together and then pulled away a few seconds later, removing my shirt and throwing it to the side.

I wasn't wearing a bra and she groaned lightly, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the door. "Besides," I murmured, slipping my hands under the bottom of her shirt and running them slowly up her stomach, my nails raking lightly against her abs as I raised her shirt with me "I have loads of energy that I suddenly need to burn off, and this is the perfect way to do so."

She cursed under her breath and then surged forward, connecting our lips briefly before moving down my jaw, sucking and nipping my neck as she went.

* * *

><p>I looked up at the school and fidgeted with the door handle before letting go and placing my hands back in my lap. Brittany was watching me patiently, waiting for me to get out of the car first.<p>

I sighed and looked back at her "I'm sorry, just…what if he doesn't want to?"

"Then he says no and we'll walk away. Puck declining your offer won't hurt you – you can't miss what you didn't have – but if he accepts, don't you want to find that out?"

"If he says no, that means that Anna will be in danger again," I reminded her.

"We could always figure something else out, your father's friends will be here today, and they might be able to help with that. Anna will be fine; she's a strong woman, she's survived this much."

I nodded, knowing that she was right. "Thank you. I know that I'm being silly, but-"

"You're not being silly," Brittany shook her head "You're worried about someone who may as well be your mom, and that is natural. But you can't run away and postpone this forever, it's best to just get it over and done with. Like ripping off a band aid."

I leant in and she met me halfway, exchanging a slow, sweet kiss. I took a deep breath and then pulled away, opening my car door and stepping out as Brittany followed my actions. We met at the front of the car and intertwined our fingers before continuing into the school.

We walked to Brittany's locker and then my own, unsure of where exactly to look for Puck, but we knew that he would find me when he had an answer anyway. We just finished getting what I needed out of my locker when Puck walked past and stopped long enough to whisper "follow me," into my ear before taking off again.

I looked to Brittany and nodded, following after him, around to the back of the school. "Can he be trusted?" Brittany asked me, and I looked at her, agreeing that it was a strange place to want to talk.

Shrugging, I entered his mind and examined it, finding out that he did want to join me. I could have found out more, but I didn't want to infringe on his privacy any more than I had to, and I wanted him to tell me everything himself anyway.

I uttered a simple "yep," to Brittany as we walked through the back doors, knowing that I didn't need to say anything else for her to trust me.

Puck stopped a few feet away and leaned against a wall, facing us with his back against the wall. He glanced around, looking at a loss for words, but then he looked me in the eyes and started speaking.

"You're right, what you said before; I got so caught up in the power that Enzo and Rico allowed me; it made me want more. So much so that I didn't quite realise what I was doing. This isn't me making up excuses, but I feel like you should know why I did the things that I did. Enzo and Rico allowed me into their house, they made me feel like part of their family. You know what my family is like; how fucked up they are. Enzo made me feel like I belonged somewhere, like I was wanted and was helpful, everything that my family didn't do. I guess I just didn't realise that I had changed in the process. I was so thankful for everything that they had done for me; for the way they had treated me and took me on, that I didn't want to see how I had changed."

He scuffed his feet along the floor and shot me a pleading look. "What you said to me yesterday made me think about the person that I used to be before all of this happened. When we were best friends and it was as simple as that. I want that easiness back, and at the moment I know that the only way to do so is by stopping Enzo before he hurts any more people."

"So you're going to leave Enzo and join Justin instead?" Brittany asked.

"I was thinking about that, and we all know that me leaving won't be that easy. Once you're in, you're in. I want to join you guys, but I was thinking that it might be better to do that if I was on the inside. I can tell you what you need to know about him; what he's planning and how he's doing."

"What makes you think that we don't already have a guy on the inside?" I asked.

"I'm sure that you do, you're smart enough for that. It can never hurt to have a backup, right?"

I nodded, agreeing with him.

He looked at Brittany, then down at the floor, then back up to me, chewing on his lip all the while. "I also wanted to apologise for the way I have been treating you lately. I shouldn't have been so persistent or…disgusting. That is mainly on me, and I don't want to blame anyone else, but your father did want us to get together. Not that I can blame him, I mean, look at how hot a couple we would make." He looked to Brittany and winced, seemingly having forgotten her.

I glared at him "and here I was thinking that you'd made so much progress."

"Well you can't expect me to tame the beast all the time," he winked. "But seriously, I am sorry for the way I acted. I will be sure to keep myself in check from now on, okay?" he held his hand out for me to shake, grinning.

I looked at Brittany and she smiled slightly. Not being able to help the smile that slowly spread over my face, I shook his hand, muttering deal as I nodded to Brittany.

* * *

><p>I was standing outside my front door with Brittany, my keys gripped in my hand as I tried to find the courage to go inside. My father's friends and sister were in there, and while I was excited to meet them and see another part of my father, I was worried that I wouldn't be what they expected, or that they would think that I was like Enzo and judge me for his actions.<p>

Brittany stepped up close behind me and placed one of her hands of my back, between my shoulder blades, rubbing gently. "You always told me not to worry when I was nervous before meeting family, so I'll say the same to you now. They're your father's friends and family, they will just be happy that he finally has his daughter with him."

"Yeah," I whispered and then placed the key in the lock, turning it gently and quietly opening the door and stepping inside. I could hear laughter coming from the living room and looked to Brittany as I dropped my bag on the floor, next to the suitcases that were piled there. Brittany did the same and then followed behind me as I slowly made my way to the living room.

A woman spotted us first; she had the same skin tone and hair colour as my father, also sharing some other similarities with him. I could only presume that this was my aunt, and I smiled shyly when she caught my eyes.

She clapped and jumped up out of her seat, breaking the conversation surrounding her. "Justin, you must introduce us. I can only assume that this is my niece."

Everyone turned to look at us and I could feel myself blushing under their gazes. I smiled at everyone and looked to my dad for guidance.

"Oh yes," he made his way to my side and rested a hand on my shoulder. "Everyone, this is Santana and her girlfriend, who is also our current housemate, Brittany. Santana, this is your aunt, Caterina, and my friends John, Sasha and Carter." He gestured to each person as he said their name, and they all sent us a little wave.

I was a little surprised that he had called out my relationship with Brittany, but I trusted his judgement to do so, and knew that he wouldn't have said anything if he thought that they would react negatively. I looked back at Brittany and reached for her hand, leading her to my side a little more when she took it.

Caterina stepped forward and grabbed me gently by the shoulders, looking me over properly from head to toe. "You're a beautiful young woman, you've definitely inherited our family genes." I chuckled over my blush and she pulled me into a hug "welcome to the family, Santana. We're delighted to have you."

"I'm delighted to be here," I replied, squeezing her back slightly before letting go. She pulled back but stepped to the side, making sure to stand next to me, as if she wanted to make sure that I wouldn't leave.

The other three people were standing opposite me, waiting for my attention, so when I looked at them the man in front stepped forward slightly and held his hand out for Brittany and I to shake. "I'm Carter, it's nice to meet you. I'd tell you what my power is, but my name makes it fairly obvious; your father doesn't miss an opportunity to point it out, so I thought that I would get in there first." He grinned and dodged the push that Justin aimed toward him.

"Teleportation?" I asked.

"Yep. I'm their own personal mode of transportation. They think that it saves them money, but I'll charge them soon enough."

I laughed and he moved back so that the other two could introduce themselves properly. The second man held out his hand and shook both mine and Brittany's before pulling back and saying "I know that I've already been introduced, but I am john, and it is a pleasure to meet you both." As soon as he finished talking, he disappeared, only to flicker a couple of seconds, his head floating in the air.

"Wow," Brittany murmured next to me, awed, and I nodded in agreement. I hadn't imagined anyone would be able to do something like that before, and seeing that made me believe that we would easily be able to end everything with Enzo.

"Don't show off," the woman pushed him, so that he stumbled and became visible again. "I'm Sasha and, as you may have figured out by now, I can bend water." She just smiled and moved away, and I appreciated that she understood the need for personal space. I understood why they were hugging and shaking hands, introducing themselves in such a way, but it did make me a little uncomfortable.

My dad motioned to the seats and they all sat back down, leaving the loveseat for Brittany and I.

* * *

><p>I collapsed onto the ground panting, trying to regain my breath. I could hear Brittany and Caterina still practicing in the background and I rolled over, watching them fight. Brittany was so elegant, managing to block and dodge most of Caterina's blows. She stayed mainly on the defensive, not wanting to hurt Caterina, no matter how much she assured Brittany that she wouldn't.<p>

As soon as Brittany and I had sat down with everyone, they started talking more about what our options were and planning the more viable ones in greater detail. I learnt that Caterina didn't have a power, but that definitely didn't mean that she wasn't powerful or dangerous. She had taken lots of self-defence classes throughout her life, and was an expert at fighting, something which she seemed keen to teach me and Brittany.

We had been training for a while, and it was cold and dark because we had to do it outside. There were some lights on, but Caterina said that it would help to be able to fight in all situations, and so we dressed up in some warm clothes and then started training in the garden.

After a few more minutes Caterina declared that we could stop now and Brittany sighed in relief, sinking down next to me. I rolled over onto my back again and Brittany lay on her front, her head resting on my stomach.

Caterina strolled over, seemingly not affected by the training at all, and sat down next to us, cross-legged. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to you properly, I was too focussed on making sure that you could protect yourselves, so I wanted to do that first. Can we talk now?"

"Of course," I nodded, pushing myself up into a sitting position. It was getting a little chilly now, after having not moved for a little while, and Brittany seemed to notice that as well. She sat up and pressed herself into my side a bit, cuddling against my arm and resting her head on my shoulder.

"Protecting you and Justin is a large part of why I'm here; I will always do everything that I can to do so, but another reason is because Enzo Lopez is involved in this. He split apart our family and ruined it; we've been broken for so many years because of the absence of you in our lives."

"So you're here for revenge?" I asked.

She winced and looked down at the ground. "Revenge sounds too petty. You don't quite understand what this did to your father, how much it tortured him. He didn't tell any of us about you or Enzo or what had happened for the longest time. He kept it all bottled up inside and then just burst one day, telling us everything that had happened. He had lost his way for a long time; he'd given up on life. The only thing that kept him holding on was the chance at seeing another picture of you or finding out one little thing about you. We have so much to be thankful to you for."

"For existing?" I shook my head "no, it probably would be easier if I hadn't. But why didn't he tell anyone about what was happening? He could've gotten me back much easier when I was a baby, rather than having all of this danger now, especially when Enzo is so much more dangerous."

"He didn't want to do anything to hurt or endanger your mom. Taking you from Enzo would also mean taking you from Maribel, because she wouldn't have been able to come with us. He wanted to do what was best for the two of you, and keeping you with your mother would be that."

I nodded slowly, feeling guilty, even though I knew that I had no reason to. "Why didn't he tell me any of this?"

"Why would he? He's just happy that he got you back, why taint your relationship now with what happened in the past? There's nothing that can be done about it. I'm only telling you to try to help you understand why we all hate Enzo so much, besides the obvious."

I felt Brittany shiver against me and suddenly noticed the temperature again, realising that Caterina must have been really cold, because she wasn't sharing anyone's body heat like Brittany and I were.

"Do you want to go back inside now?" I asked, standing and helping Brittany up with me, then holding a hand out for Caterina. "It's freezing out here."

"Oh yeah, sure," she agreed, accepting my hand. "I don't really feel the cold, to be honest, it's mind over matter."

I nodded and walked into the house, entering the living room which had more noise now than it did earlier in the night. Justin was pacing the room looking troubled and when he saw us he sighed "I was just about to come and get you."

"Why? What's happened?" Caterina asked, going straight into business mode.

"I just got a phone call from my contact in Enzo's house and he said that Enzo is going out on Sunday to gather supplies, so that will be the time to strike. He will be more or less alone, and it will be our only window of opportunity. Enzo is planning on killing us on Monday or later, which is when he will be at his strongest, so it will be best to get him on Sunday, when he is alone and not expecting anything to happen. We need to plan what we're going to do."

"And he's sure that it will happen?"

"Yes, Enzo was talking to him about it. My friend is one of his most trusted men, and is in charge of organising Enzo's trip, so he can set it up for us that we'll be in and out, if we need to."

The doorbell rang then and we all looked toward it.

"I'll get it," I offered, already moving to open it. Everyone else was too busy strategizing and I knew that I wouldn't be of any help. I looked through the peephole and opened the door with surprise, seeing Puck standing there, fidgeting.

"Can I come in?" he asked hurriedly and I nodded, moving aside.

He stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him. "Where have you been? Why haven't you answered your phone?" he sounded panicked.

"I forgot it in my bag," I frowned, looking at it on the floor by my feet. "Why, what's the matter?"

"Listen, Enzo is planning something for Sunday-" he started, but I cut him off.

"Yeah, I know. He's going to get supplies on Sunday and then try to get us on Monday."

"No," he shook his head rapidly. "It's a trap. Your father's friend only works for Enzo, he's just been playing your father and gaining his trust this whole time. They're going to ambush you all when you go to kill Enzo on Sunday. There will be a whole group of people waiting for you to arrive."

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" I asked. "You've only just joined us, and you want us to believe your word over someone that my father has been friends with for _years_?"

"Then you can look in my mind. It may seem like it, but I've always tried to protect you as much as I could. Before, in school when I had that knife to 'kill' you and told you about the hit. It wasn't actually real, I managed to persuade Enzo that it would be better for us to find out the extent of your power, so that he would know what you can do. I've always looked out for you."

I took a deep breath and nodded, believing him, but I knew that Justin would have a much harder time doing so.

"Come on then, you better tell my father." I led him into the living room, and as soon as Justin saw Puck he stopped laughing.

"What are you doing here?!" he asked, clenching his fists and grinding his teeth together. I could tell that it was taking a lot of willpower for him to restrain himself from attacking him.

"He's helping us," I answered. "He's my mole."

"You can't be serious. He tried to kill you!"

"No, it was just a set up, for Enzo to test a theory. He has something to tell us anyway, about Enzo and your friend." I looked between them and could see that neither would start speaking, so I told him exactly what Puck told me.

When I finished, Justin shook his head in denial. "Don't be ridiculous, my friend has never been wrong before. He's always given me the right information and has done everything that I asked. That wouldn't have happened if he was double-crossing me."

"Not every time," I disagreed. "Where was he when they kidnapped Brittany? He was meant to be looking over her, but instead he was missing, unaccounted for for hours."

"So? He can't be judged on one mistake."

I shrugged and Puck spoke up "you can go through my mind. Have a look in there and see for yourself if I'm telling the truth."

"Okay," my father agreed.

They both sat down at the kitchen table and closed their eyes. The room was silent, as though no one breathing, the air was tense.

After a couple of minutes, Justin opened his eyes and muttered "okay, I'm done, you can open your eyes." His voice was softer, and the way he looked at Puck was less judgemental, almost as if he was sympathising with him.

He looked to us and nodded slightly, a small frown covering his features. "We need to figure out another plan."

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> Thank you for reading! Please review to let me know what you thought :)

There may be a midweek update of pure Brittana, if I can get around to it. If not, it will be Saturday, as usual.

Check out my tumblr at imaginebrittana . tumblr . com if you want. I sometimes post things to do with this story :)


	28. Chapter 28

**A.N.** Thanks again to _bumblebey0131_ and _veiledgreyskies_ for their reviews! :)

A massive thank you to _**veiledgreyskies**_ for betaing this chapter!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 28<span>

The house was quiet, a contrast to the noise that was running through it last night. Justin's friends and sister were staying in a hotel around the corner, and had left when Brittany and I had decided to go to bed, saying that it had been a long day and that they also needed to sleep and rest up.

I sat on the edge of my bed and ran a hand through my hair, breathing out a sigh before placing my head in my hands. I knew that everything would be sorted out soon, but I was worried that we wouldn't all escape in one piece and that there would be some losses. I didn't want that to happen, regardless of which side the losses would occur on, and hated that it was most likely inevitable.

Brittany's hand touched me gently on my back and I lifted my head, looking over my shoulder to see her laying on her side, facing me. She beckoned me back to her, so I smiled softly and crawled under the covers, laying in the same position as her, with my hand resting lightly on her hip.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I'm just worried about tomorrow," I admitted. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, but I know that there's no way I can really prevent it. I just can't stop thinking about what's going to happen, what I might have to do."

Brittany bit her lip, looking worried, and after a few seconds of silence she said "well maybe we could go somewhere to try to clear your head? Somewhere we can just relax and focus on the here and now, rather than what will happen tomorrow?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"How about the zoo? We could take Emily as well and have some fun with her like we used to."

"I don't know if my dad will agree to that. It's getting more dangerous lately, I don't know if he'd let us risk our lives just to get some fresh air."

"But if Enzo is planning on ambushing us tomorrow, why would he try to do something to us today? He has been planning tomorrow for a while, right? So he must be confident with that plan. Doing something to us today would only harm that plan."

I nodded, once again marvelling at how well Brittany seemed to be able to get inside people's heads and understand their motivations and plans. "That does make sense; I'll talk to my dad and see what he says."

"And if he says no to that, you can always mention that I'm really worried about what will happen tomorrow and want to spend one last time with Emily, just in case something goes wrong."

"And is that true?" I asked.

Brittany nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Nothing will happen to you, I promise," I reassured her. "You don't even have to be there, you can stay with your family tonight and tomorrow, to stay away from everything that is going to happen."

"No, I want to be there for you and help in any way I can." Her jaw was set and she spoke with resolution.

I nodded. "What time do you want to go to the zoo then? You also need to phone your parents up as well, remember, to check that we're allowed to take her there."

"Who should we ask first? Your dad or my parents?"

"Your parents," I decided. "Emily might already be doing something, and I think that I can get my dad to say yes anyway, if he doesn't want to."

Brittany nodded and stretched to reach her phone on the dresser, telling me "I'll see what they say and then we'll decide what time to go. As early as possible though, to get a whole day in. There will probably be queues anyway."

"I'll go get ready, while you phone her." She nodded and I walked into the bathroom, sending her a reassuring smile. I was sure that Brittany's parents would let us take Emily out, because we had neglected her a bit lately, and so this would be a good way to make it up to her.

I showered quickly and then stepped back into my room, seeing Brittany just pulling her shirt over her head. "What did they say?" I asked, looking through my wardrobe.

"They said that she can come," Brittany beamed, jumping up and down lightly.

"That's really awesome," I told her as I got dressed. "Did you speak to Emily?"

"No, she was still sleeping, but Mom said that she'll wake her up now and get her ready. She'll be so excited."

"A little like you are right now then," I teased, grinning as she swatted at me.

"Have you checked with your dad?" Brittany asked.

"No, I'll check right now."

Her smile faded slightly. "What if he says no?"

"He won't say no," I reassured her, leaning in to kiss her cheek before heading for the bedroom door. "I promise."

She nodded and sat down to brush her hair, muttering a soft and trusting "okay."

"Dad," I announced as I walked into the kitchen and saw him and Caterina sat at the table "I was thinking that you'll be going over tactics and things all day, right? So you don't need Brittany and I around, getting in the way."

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"We wanted to go to the zoo with her sister."

"At a time like this? No, absolutely not."

"Why not? Please, Dad. We'll be safe."

"And how can you be assured of that?" he asked.

I sat down at the table on the seat by his side. "They're not going to do anything now, to risk their plan for tomorrow going awry. If they try to get me or Brittany at the zoo, they would waste a sure-fire way to capture all of us. They're convinced that tomorrow will work, and so they wouldn't risk a plan like that on the chance that they could get two of us one day earlier."

"You can't be sure of that; you don't know what he's thinking."

"But we can guess, and that is the closest to what he must be thinking. I lived with him for seventeen years, I must somewhat know how his mind works."

"I'm not going to risk your life for a day out that could happen at any time," he refused again, shaking his head.

"Justin, maybe you should listen to her," Caterina said softly. "She's a smart girl, she wouldn't risk herself, Brittany, or Brittany's sister, for just a day out."

I smiled at her in thanks. "It's not just a day out. Brittany is really worried about what will happen tomorrow; she wants to make sure that she has at least one more day with her sister, in case something does happen. I'm worried about it all as well, it will be nice to be able to relax and gather my mind, ready for everything that will happen tomorrow."

He sighed and clasped his hands in front of his face.

"Please, you know that I wouldn't ask if I didn't feel like it was important," I pleaded.

"Okay," he ran his hand over his face. "But I will have someone watching the entrances to the zoo at all times, just in case. "I'm not going to risk your life either, Santana."

"I know, thank you." I stood up and kissed him on his cheek, pulling him into a hug when he stood up.

"Be careful," he whispered into the top of my head.

"I will." I nodded against his chest slightly. "I have my phone on me anyway, even though I'm sure that nothing will happen."

"Okay, good."

He pulled away and I looked to Caterina, mouthing "thank you."

She nodded and then said "have fun," with a smile on her face.

I grinned in thanks and then turned around, seeing Brittany just walking out of our bedroom. The grin on my face gave me away, and she smiled brightly, walking over to me.

"Thanks for letting us go out today," Brittany looked to both my dad and aunt. "It means a lot."

"We know, just be careful and watch out for anyone you recognise," Justin warned, although he sounded a little less worried now.

"We will," Brittany promised, looking up at me so I nodded. "Are we leaving now?" she asked me. "I was thinking that we could pick up a picnic hamper on the way to get Emily, so we can have that for lunch."

"That sounds amazing," I smiled.

* * *

><p>The hamper was in the trunk as I parked outside of the Pierce residence, we had stopped off quickly and found one that we liked before continuing on to get Emily. It was a lovely day to go to the zoo; the sun was out, and it was the perfect temperature, where it was neither too hot nor too cold. It was perfect.<p>

As soon as we parked in the driveway, the curtain twitched and the front door burst open, Emily running outside and launching herself into Brittany's arms as she stepped out of the car. Brittany laughed and swung Emily around carefree, their laughter ringing in my ears. I smiled as I watched them, happy that Brittany did seem to be getting on with Emily better now than when she had first confessed to me that their relationship wasn't the best.

I looked to the door and saw Brittany's parents both standing there, smiling fondly as they watched their children. I made my way over to them, accepting the rucksack that they held out to me when I reached them.

"We know what Emily is like to handle during car rides, so we packed some things to keep her occupied. There's also some drinks and sweets in there that you can all have."

"Thank you, you didn't need to do that though. We actually just got a picnic hamper for lunch, created to Emily's tastes."

"Thank you for taking them out," Brittany's mom said. "We were worried that she wouldn't want to see us or Emily as much, now that she's living with someone else. It's lovely to see that she still cares about Emily."

I looked away, feeling guilty for Justin making them agree to Brittany living with us, and for taking Brittany away from them in the first place. I looked back and smiled as happily as I could. "It isn't a permanent thing, I think that she'll probably be moving back in with you again soon. It was just like a prolonged sleepover. But she could never stop caring or forget about you; she loves you all too much for that."

I looked back to Brittany and Emily and watched as they jogged over to us.

"Santana!" Emily cheered and I raised my hand to high-five her.

"Hey, Ems. How are you?"

"Excited," she grinned. "What are we going to see first?"

"Whatever you want to see," I smiled, ruffling her hair.

She nodded up and down rapidly, her eyes wide with anticipation. "Can we go now?" she grabbed my hand and tugged on it, and I laughed at her eagerness.

"We sure can," I smiled at her.

"We'll see you later then, okay?" Brittany smiled at her mom and dad. They nodded and we walked to the car, making sure that Emily was buckled in and had her bag within reach. I started it up and pulled away, all three of us waving to her parents who were standing on the porch, watching us leave.

* * *

><p>We had gotten to the zoo quickly, arriving early because we had missed the majority of traffic. Emily was wearing her backpack and holding both mine and Brittany's hand, swinging them between us as we walked. I was also carrying the picnic hamper, no matter how much Brittany had protested.<p>

Emily was looking around slowly, taking in the statues outside and the people milling around. "This is so cool," she breathed out and I chuckled, shaking her hand a little.

"What do you want to see first then?"

"Um…gorillas!" she burst out. "No, lions actually…or penguins. I don't know!"

"How about we just walk around in order of the exhibits, then?" Brittany asked as we stepped up to the ticket booth. I ordered them and pulled my money out to pay when Brittany's hand shot in front of me, giving the money to the ticket master first.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Paying," she said in a 'duh' tone. "You said that I'd get to pay on our next date, so I am. Plus, Emily is my sister anyway, so it wouldn't be fair."

"Yes it would," I protested, but accepted the tickets from the man with a smile and continued walking.

"Nuh uh," she shook her head.

I just shrugged and looked around, wondering which way to go first. "Have you ever been here before?" I asked.

"Nope. Have you?"

"Nah," I shook my head. "It's a first for all of us."

Brittany looked at me, her eyes softening and crinkling at the corners. "What?" I asked self-consciously, looking around to escape her gaze.

She didn't say anything, so I looked back to her and she licked her lips before whispering "you're just perfect."

I could feel myself blushing furiously, still not used to the way she treated and revered me.

"Look!" Emily shouted out, pulling on Brittany's hand and yanking her own out of mine to point to our left. "It's the gorillas!"

"There you go then, there's your first choice," I smiled down at her, glancing at Brittany before taking ahold of Emily's hand again and letting her pull us to the exhibit.

When we got closer, Emily pulled out of our grasp and ran toward the gorillas, stepping up to the glass and leaning into it, trying to see everything. Brittany and I stopped a few feet back, keeping an eye on Emily. We were standing close together, hands clasped between us now that Emily was no longer in the way.

After a couple of minutes, Emily ran back to us and took Brittany's free hand, pulling us along in a row until she could see the next exhibit, where she then let go and ran off again.

Brittany laughed lightly. "She's getting so old, not scared to go off and look at exhibits on her own. It's weird."

I kept quiet, but stepped a little closer to her, knowing that she would elaborate in a minute. "She'll be in high school in a few years," she continued. "She'll be growing up and won't want to be surrounded by her family anymore; she'll want to go off by herself and with friends. I guess I just feel that I've maybe wasted a lot of time with her. I was such a bad sister, and I'm worried that I won't have time to change that, and that she'll hate me forever."

"What? Britt, she loves you. She couldn't ask for a better sister. You should have seen how you two looked earlier when we collected her. You looked like the best of friends. It doesn't matter about the way that you may or may not have treated her when she was younger, she's forgotten now."

Brittany nudged me to keep moving, following Emily as she wandered around and looked back every now and then to check that we were still following her.

She hummed and then said "did you notice anything about your aunt? When we were training outside?"

"No, why? What did you see?"

"It's just something she said. I may be thinking too much into it, but she said that it's just a case of 'mind over matter' as to why she doesn't feel cold." She looked at me and raised her eyebrow, prompting me to think on it.

"You think that that's her power?" I asked, surprised, but also thinking it through in my mind. It made sense; it's not like anyone would be looking for a power in that. It wasn't exactly something that would make its presence known.

"I think that it's a possibility," she shrugged.

"I'll talk to her tonight, see what she thinks. You could definitely be right about it, and if you are it would help us to a point. It depends to what extent it is, because it could include psychokinesis and things like that, but it may just be able to control how much pain you feel. Either way, it would definitely be helpful to know before the…thing tomorrow."

I was going to say 'before the fight tomorrow', but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had gone to the zoo with Brittany and Emily, with part of the aim being to forget about the upcoming events. I didn't want to have to put a name to what was going to happen tomorrow; that would make it more real, for both of us.

Emily was at the penguin enclosure, standing on her tiptoes, trying to see something. We walked up to her and Brittany stood behind her, resting her hands on her sister's shoulders.

"Hey sprout, want a lift up?"

She peered up at Brittany and nodded shyly. She smiled and wound her arms around Emily's waist, lifting her a couple of feet so that she could see the penguins waddling around. Emily pointed out the ones that looked like they were in Happy Feet before requesting to be put back down again.

Emily's stomach rumbled and she blushed, looking embarrassed. Brittany and I laughed at her before I chuckled "d'you want to find somewhere to eat lunch now?"

"Yes please!" she nodded before taking both of our hands and dragging us in the direction of some green she could see in the distance.

The grass was packed with people already, but there were a few spaces. She pulled us past a few of them, resolute on finding the perfect spot, and when she did, she cheered and flung herself down dramatically.

I laughed at her and put the hamper on the ground, pulling a blanket out and spreading it over Emily, who was lying in the middle.

"Hey!" she protested, scrambling out of it and onto her feet, standing beside us. I grinned at her and Brittany took the other side of the blanket, so we could spread it over the ground evenly.

They both sat down and started taking out the food and I announced "I saw something back there that I want to get. You two wait here, I'll be right back."

Brittany looked at me curiously, but trusted me enough to know that I didn't say what I was going to get for a reason. Instead, she simply murmured "be careful."

"I will. You too."

I took off back the way I came, looking at the people surrounding me, having fun with their friends and families. I stopped when I was standing in front of a man singing and playing guitar, sat against a wall with his guitar case in front of him, collecting money.

I watched until he finished playing his song before I stepped forward and announced myself. "That was a lovely song."

He looked up at me and I smiled politely. "Thank you," he nodded.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" He looked up slightly nervously, but didn't say anything, so I continued. "I would love if you'd let me borrow your guitar, so I can sing one song to someone."

He looked surprised, but quickly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"What if I give you some money? And you can follow me as well, to check that I won't steal it. Please."

I pulled some money out of my pocket and held it out to him, hopefully. He looked from the money, to my face, to his guitar, and then back to me again. "Who are you singing the song to?"

I looked at him in surprise, and thought about how my answer could drastically change his decision, but I wouldn't lie. I was doing this for Brittany, and I would be proud of her. "My girlfriend."

"Just one song?" he asked. I nodded and he sighed before accepting the money and closing his case, handing me the guitar.

"Thank you," I said earnestly, beaming at him as we started walking back to Brittany.

He smiled slightly "who am I to stop young love?"

I laughed. "I don't think you know how much this means to me.

"I'd disagree somewhat, judging by the amount of money that you just gave me."

I shrugged slightly. "You're doing me a huge favour."

We reached the green and got a few meters away before I nodded to Brittany "that's her."

"Okay, I'll wait here," he smiled. "Good luck."

I thanked him and approached Brittany, Emily spotting me first and waving me over. Brittany looked over her shoulder at me and eyed the guitar with surprise.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

I knelt down in front of her, placing the guitar in the right position on my knee, and told her "I think of you whenever I hear this song. I feel like this is the perfect time to sing it to you."

She nodded and smiled, so I settled into my place, strumming the strings a few times and watching what I was doing before starting.

_What day is it? And in what month?  
><em>_This clock never seemed so alive  
><em>_I can't keep up and I can't back down  
><em>_I've been losing so much time_

I looked up at Brittany then, gazing into her eyes as I sang the chorus, putting all of my emotion and feelings into it.

_'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
><em>_Everything to lose  
><em>_And it's you and me and all other people  
><em>_And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you_

She smiled shyly, looking around at the people that were surrounding us, watching our group. She caught my eyes again as I continued singing.

_One of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right  
><em>_I'm tripping on words  
><em>_You've got my head spinning  
><em>_I don't know where to go from here_

_'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
><em>_Nothing to prove  
><em>_And it's you and me and all other people  
><em>_And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you_

_There's something about you now  
><em>_That I can't quite figure out  
><em>_Everything she does is beautiful  
><em>_Everything she does is right_

I remembered the way I first felt about her; how I knew that there was something different about her and how I had wanted to find out more. We had the connection from the first day, and this song perfectly highlighted everything to do with our relationship; the way we felt and the problems that surrounded us.

_'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
><em>_Everything to lose  
><em>_And it's you and me and all other people  
><em>_And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you  
><em>_And me and all other people with nothing to do  
><em>_Nothing to prove  
><em>_And it's you and me and all other people  
><em>_And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you_

_What day is it?  
><em>_And in what month?  
><em>_This clock never seemed so alive._

I slowly stopped singing, the sound dying off in the chatter that soon started up again. Brittany wiped at her eyes and reached one hand out to me, making me realise that tears were leaking from my eyes too. I shrugged self-consciously and she laughed lightly, nodding.

"That was beautiful," she whispered, leaving her hand cupping my cheek from when she had wiped my tear away.

"Not as beautiful as you; words can only capture so much, after all."

She leaned in more and kissed me softly, just letting our lips move slowly together for a few seconds before we pulled away, mindful of our company.

"I love you," I whispered. "Just in case you didn't get that through the song."

"And I love you, you dork," she laughed, shoving my shoulder.

We pulled away from each other and she turned to Emily. I was surprised that she had kept quiet all that time and hadn't interrupted our moment, but I was thankful for it.

"What did you think of Santana's song?" Brittany asked her.

"It was really cool, I didn't know that you could sing. Or had a guitar."

"This isn't my guitar, I actually need to give it back to that man over there," I remembered, looking behind me. "I'll be right back."

I jumped up and walked over to the man, passing it back when I reached him. "Thank you for that," I smiled.

"It's no problem. But here, take your money back," he offered, holding the money back out to me. "Something that beautiful shouldn't cost that much."

"No, no, keep it," I told him. "You didn't need to trust me with your guitar and yet you did. Thank you." I smiled at him before turning back to Brittany, surprised at how generous the man was. It was rare to find people like that, even rarer when that person was playing music for money in the first place.

I sat back down and started eating the food, sharing jokes with Emily and Brittany and enjoying the nice weather.

When we had finished eating, Emily tentatively asked "Britt?" Brittany hummed, so she continued "when are you coming back home?"

Brittany looked at me in surprise before looking back to Emily, her brow furrowed. "Soon. Why?"

"I miss you. And Mom and Dad have been acting weird whenever we talk about you."

"What do you mean?" Brittany leaned forward towards Emily.

"I don't know really, they just go quiet and act confused. It's not bad, just weird. When I ask them when you're going to come home, they say that you don't know and then talk about something else."

I looked at her, slightly surprised that she had noticed that much. Children tend to be in their own world a lot and don't pay a lot of attention to what is going on with other people, but Emily seemed interested in it, she picked up on it. When I looked at Brittany though, I could see how similar the two were; they could both read people really well and generally knew what was happening within their minds.

"Well I promise that I'll be home soon, is that alright?"

Emily nodded, grinning happily. "Can I go play in the park?" she asked, looking at the adventure playground not too far from us.

"Sure," I nodded.

She scrambled up and ran to the gate, sprinting through it and climbing up the castle. I started packing up the food and then looked to Brittany, seeing that she looked upset. "What's the matter?" I asked. "It's not your fault that your parents are acting weird, you know?"

"Why not? I asked your dad to make them let me live with you. It's my fault that they're confused as to why they said yes in the first place."

"It needed to be done, Brittany. It kept them and Emily safe, and that's all that mattered. Anyway, you can make it better tonight, because I want you to stay with your family."

"What? No, I told you that I want to be with you."

"Did you listen properly to the words in that song?" I asked softly. "I meant every word. All that I'll be focussing on tomorrow, if you come with us, is if you're alright. I won't be able to defend us properly or do what needs to be done because I'll be too worried about where you are and whether or not you're alright."

"But that's not fair on me," Brittany told me. "I want to be able to help and make sure that you're alright too; I won't be able to sit at home with my family while you're out fighting for your life."

I winced at her words, but I was resolute in my decision. "Please, Brittany. You'll be able to make sure that your family are alright this way as well. We don't know if they have anything planned; they might try to do something to your family, and if they do, they won't be able to protect themselves properly. We've been training together, you'll be able to help your family out if they need it."

"San," Brittany sighed. "You know that no one will try to hurt them, they'll be too focussed on everything that is happening with you, Justin and Enzo."

"Which is why I can't have you in the middle of that. I'd never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you because of me. And yeah, most of the people will be there, which means that if someone does issue the order to capture your family for blackmail if things turn bad for them at the fight, you'll be there to protect them."

"You're playing dirty, Santana."

"I'll do what I need to do to keep you safe."

She looked into my eyes, judging just how much I meant it, and when she saw that I was deadly serious, she sighed. "Okay, fine. But as soon as it's over, you're coming to my house and letting me know that you're alright and how it went."

"I wouldn't dream of anything else," I told her.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> The song that Santana sings in this chapter is called 'You and Me' by Lifehouse. I changed one word two times though, just to get the exact meaning that I wanted :D

So, this was chockfull of Brittana, per request :) Please review and let me know what you thought :)


	29. Chapter 29

**A.N.** Thanks again to _Stefi Delly_, _Cyan55_ and _ImbaPie_ for the reviews! :)

Massive thanks to my beta _**veiledgreyskies**_!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 29<span>

I was sitting in the living room chair, with my legs tucked under me and a cup of coffee clasped in my hands as I waited for everyone to arrive. It was nine in the morning and Justin had decided the night before that everyone should be at our house early to go over the plan one more time to collect ourselves, and be ready for the fight.

I had dropped Brittany and Emily off at their house last night, saying a slightly emotional 'see you later' to Brittany when we parted. We both knew that her staying with her family was a good idea, and I promised her I would be okay, but it didn't mean that we were happy to see each other go, with danger so close on the horizon.

I heard the front door open and I looked up, seeing Caterina walk in first with John, Carter, Sasha and my father following behind her.

"Hey," I said as I settled into the chair more, tapping my fingers against my mug.

"Hi," Caterina sat on the sofa next to me. "How was the zoo yesterday?"

"It was good," I nodded, smiling at the memory. "It helped me clear my mind; I feel like I'll be able to focus better now."

"Good, that's what we need," she patted me on the arm in a way that let me know that she understood why I needed to go and clear my head.

"Where's Puck?" I asked, only just realising that he hadn't arrived with the others.

"Oh, he's still pretending that he's on Enzo's side at the moment, he'll be at the warehouse when we get there. It'll mean that he's already in the thick of it and he will be able to help us out easier."

I nodded, "So what's the plan?"

Everyone else entered the room and sat down, looking to Justin to speak.

"I'm going to enter the warehouse with John, Caterina and Carter, who will all be invisible, thanks to John. He can only keep it going for a limited amount of time when it's for someone other than him, so he'll distribute them in the best spots and then find his own. He has to be touching something to make it invisible, which is part of the reason it is only those three coming in with me."

He paused to take a sip of his drink and I nodded to show that I understood. He continued "you will be travelling in the car with us, but instead of entering the warehouse through the front doors, you will wait by the back entrance for Sasha to show up. She will drive part of the way and then walk the rest, so people looking will only be able to see one car."

"What about Enzo's men? Won't they see us waiting by the back door?" I asked.

"No. They'll all be inside, on the upper levels and dotted around so that they have the best vantage to attack. They wouldn't risk going outside and getting spotted."

"Okay, then what?"

"Once everyone's in position and you begin to hear the commotion, you'll go inside and surprise them, giving us the upper hand."

"Is that all?" I asked, surprised that they didn't seem to have a big, tactical plan that was sure to work. "How many of Enzo's men will be there?"

"We don't know, but we can guess quite a few, because he obviously knows about our powers. He will want to catch us by surprise, so having a large number of people ambush us would do that."

"But what about once we're inside? Are we just going to make it all up on the spot?"

"That's all we can do really, we don't know enough to do anything else. We've talked a little bit on powers and how we can use them to our advantage, but until we know the extent of what we're walking into, we cannot plan it in much more detail."

I raised an eyebrow for him to explain to me what was happening with that, as I missed that chat yesterday.

"Well I just explained how John will use his invisibility to the best of his ability. Carter's is pretty obvious as well; once we're in there, he'll be able to teleport to any spot that he needs to and take them by surprise. Sasha can dehydrate people; we don't want to kill people, but unfortunately it will be hard to keep that count at zero. She will try to get the right balance, so that they're incapacitated but alive. If things go bad then we'll lure them outside so she can use the rain and water out there to our advantage. I will try to turn some of Enzo's people to our side, but it's hard to use it completely effectively when there's so many distractions. I also have limitations and won't be able to do that to a lot of people. We'll just have to resort to physically fighting a lot of the time."

"What about me?"

"There's not much that your power can do in this fight. You'll be able to enter people's minds and anticipate their next move, to make it easier for you. If it gets hard, then you can do what you've done before to people and take a memory already playing out or one that they're thinking of, which will either distract them so that you can beat them or incapacitate them anyway, depending on the severity."

"Okay," I nodded, thinking it through. I knew that my power wasn't the most helpful when it came to actual fights, but I had hoped that I would be able to do more than that. I guess I was just like Caterina in that respect.

"Oh," I remembered, turning to my aunt. "Brittany and I were talking, and she realised something. It might not be anything at all, but it's worth looking into it."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"It's to do with what you said when you were training us; the reason you don't get as cold or exhausted as other people. You said that it's mind over matter…what if that's your power?"

"Huh." She sat back in her chair, folding her hands over her stomach. "No, I don't think that it is. We would have realised by now if that's the case. It is a good idea though."

"How can you be so sure?" Justin asked. "We've never tested that on you; it could very well be your power, and it would be fantastic if it was."

"Why would it be fantastic?" she asked, turning to look at him. "Is it not plausible that I am a good fighter simply because I have the skill and worked hard for it?"

"No, that's not what we were saying," he shook his head. "You're amazing, of course you are. Having a power wouldn't take away any of that; it wouldn't remove the hard work that you put in to being such skilled fighter. All this would mean is that your mind is that much stronger and can override your body's natural responses, which would mean that you'd have to be more careful and learn to know when you are actually too cold or exhausted to function. It would just make you stronger."

"I know, I'm sorry," she sighed. "I just…you know how disappointed Dad was when we realised that I didn't have a power. How hard I had to work to please him."

"He was never disappointed in you though, Cat." He looked around, seemingly remembering that we were all there, and she did too.

Caterina cleared her throat. "Well, we don't have enough time to figure that out now, we need to leave soon, but I will make sure to keep an eye on myself, okay? I won't let myself die," she grinned.

Justin stood up, clapping her on the shoulder as he passed her. "We better get ready to go now. We'll leave in twenty."

* * *

><p>We exited the car, Justin opening the back door to make it look like he was picking up a bag of guns, when he was instead letting out an invisible Caterina, John and carter. I closed my door and waited for him to walk around to me, glancing around as I did.<p>

It wasn't a very big building, in terms of what you'd imagine a warehouse to look like. It was around the size of two normal houses and overall didn't boast any look of significance on the outside. The few windows that the building did have were boarded up, preventing anyone from being able to see outside, which meant that they couldn't watch us. There were faded posters, peeling off from wear and tear, that advertised discounts lining the walls of the building.

There weren't any other buildings around, but there was a little car park, which is where we parked. It was close enough to the building so that we could escape relatively quickly if we needed, but it was far away enough so that it wouldn't accidentally get damaged from the fight.

Justin reached me and grabbed me by my forearms gently. "Good luck and be careful. Remember what we've planned."

"I will. Good luck to you guys too," I told them, knowing that they were around us somewhere and could hear me. I felt a tap on my arm and I smiled slightly, nodding in their direction before taking off around the side of the building.

I kept on the lookout as I moved, making sure that there was no one patrolling the building. I had instructions to text Sasha once I was at the door, to let her know that it was safe and wasn't being guarded. I got there and looked around, seeing nowhere that anyone could hide.

I sent the text and waited, seeing Sasha arrive two minutes later. I smiled and nodded at her, letting her step in front of me so that she could open the door on our cue. Thirty seconds later we heard shouts, so we nodded at each other and she twisted the handle, both of us hearing it click open at the command.

I heard her let out a sigh of relief, glad that Puck had done as he had promised, before she nudged it open and walked ahead of me, a gun held in her outstretched hands. We all needed to have an advantage, and this was Sasha's protection, or at least even footing, because the majority of Enzo's men would have guns and she couldn't form water, only manipulate water that is already present.

She ran straight in and took down two men that had their backs to us straight away, knocking them unconscious and then rounding on another before anyone had realised that we were here. I watched on in shock, but then when it became evident that she needed help, I rushed to her aid.

I was surprised by the number of people in there; it looked like all of Enzo's forces were in this one building, but I couldn't actually see Enzo anywhere. I looked around after I had helped Sasha out, which admittedly was probably more of her fighting skills than mine, and tried to find my father, so I could ask him what he thought I should do.

He wasn't anywhere in sight, and I spun around in a circle, looking for my aunt or someone else I could talk to. A force sent me sprawling to the ground and I only just managed to bring my hands out in front of me to catch me on the stone floor. I winced as I rolled over, gripping my wrists, and saw a man dressed all in black standing over me, gun aimed at my head.

"Come on Missy, you're coming with me," he grinned, cocking the gun up to indicate that I should rise.

I glared at him and tightened my jaw, refusing to move. I knew that he wouldn't shoot me, because those would be his orders, and I needed him to get closer to me before I could successfully make a move.

He cocked his eyebrow at me, but then huffed and leaned down, as if to grab my arm to yank me up. I grabbed his gun and pulled, at the same time I felt a force push him to the right of me. John's smiling face appeared over the man for a second, winking at me before turning invisible again.

I nodded at him as I spun around and jumped onto the man next to me, who was sprawled on the floor on his stomach. He tried to move and dislodge me, but I brought the hilt of the gun down onto the back of his head before he could. I felt his weight sink into the floor and I rose, looking around me again.

I saw Caterina and rushed over to her, the gun still in my hand. "Enzo isn't here," I rushed out, mindful of the fight still taking place.

"Yeah, I noticed the same thing. What are you thinking of doing?" Her eyes were darting around us as she spoke, not stopping in a single place before moving on. I could tell that her mind was focussed on the fight.

"I thought that I could look into someone's mind, find out where he is, and then take off to find him."

"Okay, you find that out and meet me outside at the back door in five."

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm going to come with you and help you. I'm not going to let you go into that alone and Justin has his hands full with this. We aren't the only ones with powers here; they're distant relatives of ours. They're twins and have telekinesis. They're not that dangerous, but still enough to need Justin and the others to stop them. I am not majorly needed in this fight and will feel better that you have someone with you. We never know, this could be another layer to the trap."

I nodded and looked around, deciding not to ask anything about our distant relatives at that moment. If she said that they weren't anything to worry about, then I would trust that she knew what she was talking about and wouldn't lie to me.

I remembered the man that I had knocked out before, and realised that he would probably be the easiest person to try to get information from; he was already unconscious, and his mind would be wide open so I wouldn't have to worry about fighting him or protecting myself while trying to find what I wanted.

I smiled at her and moved back the way I came, finding that there were no new people in that area and that the majority of the fight seemed to be at the front of the building. When I reached the man, I crouched down and entered his mind, still making sure to keep an eye out for anyone approaching me.

It was easy to find out about Enzo, considering that he had been thinking about him and the mission nonstop for the last few days. Enzo had arranged to stay at home, away from the fight.

It amazed me how he had so many people following and looking up to him, considering how much of a coward he seemed to be in real life. He only ever sent his employees into the danger, deciding that he himself would stay home, safe and relaxed.

I exited that man's mind and then left through the back door, peering around before I stepped completely outside to make sure that none of Enzo's men had found their way back there. It was clear and I moved outside and let the door shut behind me, moving down the building a few feet so that I was resting against the wall.

I waited two minutes and then the door opened again. I readied myself for an attack, just in case, but it was only Caterina and Puck.

I watched them in surprise, raising an eyebrow at Puck. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard Caterina telling your father that you were leaving to find Enzo and I decided that three people would be better than two. They don't really need my help there anyway; I just feel like I'm getting in the way more than anything else. At least this way, I can put my knowledge to use."

I nodded and accepted his answer, thankful that he was joining us. If the amount of people that were here were anything to go by, the house was sure to be swarming with guards and guns.

We took off toward the second car that Sasha had driven, knowing that we had to leave a car closer to the building for Justin and the others just in case they needed a quick getaway or if someone was badly injured, that car would be their only choice.

* * *

><p>We had been driving in silence for a while when Puck started talking. I was driving the car, because I knew the way the best, Puck was in the passenger's seat and Caterina was in the back.<p>

"What's the deal with you and Brittany?"

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, urging him to continue.

"I mean, obviously you're going out; girlfriends, or whatever. Everyone at school knows that. But like…why?" I turned my head to look at him, staring blankly before turning back to the road. He quickly backpedalled, holding out his hands in a placating gesture. "That came out wrong. I don't really know what I mean, just that it seemed to come out of nowhere. She's the chick that Rico was after though, right?"

"She was," I answered tightly, surprised that Puck had actually managed to be that astute.

He seemed to realise that he wasn't going to get any answers with those questions and changed track slightly. "I do think that you're both good for each other though. I don't know what Brittany was like before she moved here, but you were completely different. She's changed you for the better, and I think that it's great that you're together."

"Where is this coming from?" I asked.

"I dunno," he shrugged. "I guess that I just wanted to try to make up for the way I acted and everything that I did."

I nodded as I pulled up to the house, the gates hanging wide open with no guards around. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Oh, he had everyone go to the warehouse. He knows how dangerous you two are and didn't want to risk anything."

"And you're only just telling me now?" I glanced at him, that car still idling before the gates.

"I forgot," he said guiltily, shrugging apologetically. "But you can drive right on in."

I nodded and followed his instructions, parking at the side of the house. We all stepped out and walked around to the garage, but found that it was locked shut. I sighed, even though I wasn't surprised by it, and Puck stepped in front of me, walking up to the front door with his gun aimed out in front of him.

We got to the door and Puck glanced at us, all three of us nodding before he pressed down on the handle gently, letting it swing open the tiniest bit. It made no sound, and as we made our way in we couldn't hear anything, the house was eerily silent. He raised an eyebrow at us in question before continuing on, stopping in the middle of the foyer to look around, finally giving a shrug, asking where to go.

I looked to the door of Enzo's study and nodded at that, knowing that that was where he usually stayed during the day and night when he was at home. Puck turned around and headed for the door, checking that I was right behind him and Caterina was behind me before opening the door and bursting into the room.

I followed and found Enzo sat behind his desk, watching in shock as the three of us entered the room. He had one heavily muscled bodyguard with him, who quickly jumped to his feet and headed for Puck as soon as we entered, knocking the gun out of his hands straight away.

He and Puck started fighting, exchanging and dodging blows, but it looked like Puck was losing. When he received a particularly hard punch to the face, throwing him down to the ground, Caterina jumped in to help him, kicking the man in the back of the knees so that he also tumbled to the floor.

I turned when I heard a noise behind me, but I wasn't quite quick enough. I felt a searing pain in the back of my shoulder and cried out, falling to one knee and clutching my arm as the knife that had been plunged into me was ripped back out.

I thought back to Caterina's possible power; mind over matter. I could do that. If I didn't, I would most likely die, and I wasn't willing to let that happen just yet. I channelled all the strength that was gathered in my mind, and brought it to the forefront, everyone in my head coming together to form a type of barrier around the pain in my shoulder. I could tell that it would only last for a limited amount of time, but if I used that correctly, it would be immeasurably helpful.

I spun around and kicked out at Enzo's legs, knocking them out from under him and sending him to the floor next to me. His knife, tinted with my blood, clattered out of his hand and I wanted to grab for it but I didn't have enough time, because Enzo was already trying to stand.

I rolled over and pressed my forearm over his throat, trying to restrict his breathing, but apparently failing as he just grinned at me. He struggled under me and I threw an elbow into his ribs, my other arm still across his throat as I struggled to keep him in place, but he dislodged me with a swift punch to the face.

I fell sideways, cursing myself and the fact that I seemed to have forgotten all of the things I had been taught about defence and fighting, but managed to scramble up, grabbing Enzo's knife from the floor as I stood.

He rose too and surged toward me, not noticing that I held the knife in my hand. I was shoved up against the wall, his hands around my throat, but I swiftly brought my knee upwards, gripping his shoulders and spinning us around so that he was now against the wall, my knife at his neck.

We both stopped moving, waiting to see what I would do, and I hesitated. No matter what he had done to me, I didn't want to kill anyone, let alone the man that had raised me as his daughter for seventeen years.

I pressed it a little harder against the skin of his neck, but quickly pushed myself away from him, breathing deeply. He moved away from me a little bit, stepping to the side, and I kept the knife aimed toward him, but did nothing else to stop him.

The silence that enveloped the room lead me to believe that Puck and Caterina had won their fight, considering that I hadn't already been attacked from behind, but I didn't turn to look. Instead, I entered Enzo's mind, figuring that if I wasn't able to kill him, I would at least know if he was planning anything.

Maybe I could do what I had done to Rico. Justin could control him so that Enzo would formally stop his side business, so that no one else could run it when he was gone, and then I would change and remove all of his memories. It would be harder than what I had to do with Rico, of course, but I would find it so much more fulfilling.

I was still in his mind, listening in to his thoughts and I froze when a particular one struck him. He knew what I was planning; he could see in my eyes that I wouldn't kill him, and he knew what we had done to Rico. He didn't want that to happen to him – he would rather die.

I saw it a split second after he thought it, but that wasn't long enough for me to even move or tell people what he was going to do. He tore a gun out of its hiding place underneath his desk and raised it to me.

A shot rang out, but it didn't come from his gun. It hit him in the chest, and then two more quickly followed, making him fall to the ground, blood pooling around him as he lay there.

I stood in my place in shock, not quite believing what had just happened. He knew that as soon as he would raise a gun to me, the others would kill him; he died because of me.

I felt my mind and power failing, the pain in my shoulder rushing back to the forefront of my mind. I staggered and gripped onto the desk a few paces from me, feeling hands grab my arms either side of me, two voices asking if I was alright. I could only nod before my vision went black and I felt myself go limp in their grip, trusting them to look after me.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N. <strong>Please review and let me know what you thought! There's only one chapter left, the end is so near.

I uploaded a short one-shot on here a couple of days ago, if you want to check it out! :)


	30. Chapter 30

**A.N.** Thanks again to _gaga4brittana_, _bumblebey0131_, _Cyan55_, _Stefi Delly_ and _Baron von teddy_ for the reviews! :)

The biggest thanks ever to my beta _**veiledgreyskies**_, for staying with me and this story for so long, doing a fantastic job of betaing it all this time! :)

Here's the last chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 30<span>

I hummed a little, comfortable with the warmth that encompassed me, and shifted, about to roll over to the other side of the bed when my shoulder twinged and I let out a groan, instantly stopping and refusing to move my body any more at that moment. Instead, I opened my eyes and surveyed my surroundings, realising that I was in my room, alone.

I slowly pushed myself up with my good arm, trying to swing myself over the bed without the use of my other arm, which I noted was in a sling. I felt faint and my head was a little dizzy as I tried to sit up, I felt myself tipping to the side slightly and instinctively moved my arm out for support, crying out loud as I landed on it.

Grunting, I rolled myself over and sat up properly this time, just as my father ran into the room, looking worried.

"Are you alright?" he rushed out, helping me sit up more thoroughly before taking a place on the bed next to me.

I shrugged with my good arm and noticed my phone on the dresser. I picked it up and looked at the screen, seeing that it was set on silent and had fifteen missed calls displayed, all Brittany.

He saw what I was looking at and told me "I phoned her up yesterday, let her know that we are all alright."

I nodded and placed it back on the dresser for the moment, more worried about finding out exactly what had happened after I blacked out. I gestured to the headboard and shuffled toward it with his help, resting my back comfortably against it.

"What happened then?"

"Well I assume that you remember everything that happened with you and Enzo?" I nodded. "There isn't really much to tell on our side. It got a little worse once you, Caterina and Puck left, so we took the fight outside, which gave us the advantage. We won. We sustained a few injuries on our side, but no deaths, which was great. We turned up to the Lopez house just as Puck and Caterina were carrying you out of it. I was so worried about you. We brought you back here and fixed your shoulder as much as we could – Caterina knows a lot of first aid – before putting you to bed and phoning Brittany."

"How many people died?" I asked softly, looking down at the bed spread, tracing the patterns on it.

"That doesn't matter. It's all over now, Santana. We don't have to worry about Enzo or his company any more. It's a shame that the count couldn't stay on zero, but there was nothing we could do about that. We tried our best."

I hesitated, looking up at him. "Does that mean that Enzo was the only one?"

He bit his lip and then quickly nodded once.

"How is Brittany?" I asked quickly, trying to focus on her at that moment. I knew that there was a chance that I would break down if my mind stayed on that subject for much longer.

"She's alright. She's worried about you, naturally, but after I told her what happened she calmed down. She said that she'd come over today when you're feeling better."

I looked through my open door, taking note of the silence ringing through the house. "Where is everyone?"

"They decided to give us all some peace and to stay in their hotel rooms for the day. We all needed to rest and try to sleep off the injuries. They will be around tomorrow, but we have the day to ourselves today." I nodded and he smiled, patting my leg "I know that you want to see Brittany, so I'll let you get to that. Just call out if you need me."

"Thank you," I smiled up at him as he walked out of the door.

I picked my phone back up and fiddled with it before sending a text to Brittany, inviting her around. I wasn't sure if she'd be in school or not, because it was a Monday, and I didn't want her to get into trouble if she was and her phone rang out. Barely a minute later I received a reply, saying that she was at home and would be at mine in ten minutes.

I smiled and then placed my phone back on the table next to me, resting my head against the headboard and slowly closing my eyes. I felt my whole body relax, the pounding in my shoulder toned down to a dull throb as I focused on the noises outside my house, the cars whizzing past and an occasional bird's tweet.

A few minutes later I heard the doorbell ring and I startled slightly, slowly opening my eyes. I looked around the room and pushed myself up a little more, ready for when Brittany would appear in my room.

I heard a low conversation in the hallway and then footsteps walking in the direction of my room, light and unmistakably Brittany's. I grinned as her face peered around the doorframe that was still open and I beckoned her inside.

She was carrying flowers, they were already in a vase that I recognised from the kitchen, and placed them on the dresser next to me before bouncing on the bed and pulling me into a hug, careful not to press against my arm or shoulder.

I smiled into her neck and pulled her into me more thoroughly, not caring about any pain that I may have felt at that moment, focussing on the pure comfort and safety that I felt in her arms.

I breathed in deeply a few times and then pulled back, smiling shyly. "Hey," I whispered.

"Hi," she grinned back, grabbing my good hand in both of hers, drawing patterns into the skin of my palm. "I was worried about you," she admitted, staring down at my hand.

"I know…I would've phoned you as soon as it all ended, if not have gone around to your house to see you, but…" I shrugged and she nodded knowingly. "I told you that it would be alright though, and we don't have to worry about Enzo anymore. We can just relax and be us, with no other worries about murderers or anything. We can be pretty normal again."

"Who said that I want to be normal?" she grinned at me, leaning in and bopping noses before softly kissing me on the lips, humming against them. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Like crap. I need a shower or something, I just feel so dirty and ugh."

"Go take a shower now then," she smiled, tilting her head toward the bathroom. "I don't mind waiting."

"I don't know if I can do it alone," I admitted and then laughed when she raised an eyebrow. "No, I just…my shoulder, it hurts when I move, I'll need help taking my clothes off."

"Okay, come on then," she nodded, climbing off the bed and then helping me up as well.

We walked into the bathroom, Brittany locking the door behind us and turning the shower on, finding the perfect temperature. She walked back over to me and guided me out of my shirt, making sure to be as gentle as possible and not bump my arm, then did the same with my bra. She dropped my clothes to the floor next to us as her eyes surveyed my body, taking note of the bruises covering it. She fell to her knees and I placed my hands on her shoulders as she helped me out of my trousers and underwear, placing them on top of my other clothes.

I blushed, still not used to the gentle intimacy she treated me with. She rose and helped me into the shower before grabbing my clothes and setting them in the wash basket. I closed the curtain to the shower as she sat down on the toilet.

"What did you do yesterday?" I asked as I started washing, eager to drown myself in Brittany's voice.

"Nothing really. I couldn't stop thinking about what was happening with you guys. I played a few different games with Emily and then watched TV with my family, but that's about it. Nothing important really happened."

I thought back to what Emily said about her parents; how they were acting weird whenever Brittany was brought up. "How are your parents?"

"They're alright, I think." Her voice echoed around the room as she spoke. "I guess they seemed thoughtful at times, but overall they were normal, like they usually are. They missed me, they told me that much, and they want me to move back in with them. I think that Emily was overreacting a little bit though, when she said that at the zoo."

I hummed, thinking about her moving back in with her parents. It wasn't fair for her to stay here; we were keeping her away from her family. It was different when I moved in with Quinn; I didn't have a choice, my family kicked me out. Well, my mother did. It was hard thinking of Enzo as just another man though; I had been brought up believing for seventeen years that he was my father, and it was hard to remember 24/7 that he wasn't.

I felt my face twist.

No matter how much like a monster he acted, I had killed the man who had raised me for the first seventeen years of my life. I felt a sob try to leave my throat, but I quickly stifled it, placing my fist over my mouth.

I was glad that the water was running, hiding the sounds of my sniffles a bit. I could also hear Brittany talking, but I couldn't concentrate on what she was saying.

I felt myself slide down the wall, curling into a ball when I reached the bottom, my knees tucked up to my chest and my arm resting over them, my head buried in the crook of my elbow.

A sob left me loudly and I heard Brittany stop talking before she cautiously asked "Santana?"

I didn't answer, knowing that if I spoke, she would know that I was crying straight away. I tried to hum in acknowledgement, but it came out strangled.

There was shuffling on the other side of the shower before the curtain was drawn back and Brittany was looking down at me. Her face twisted as soon as she saw me, and she stepped in, leaving the curtain open as she knelt down opposite me, not caring about the clothes she was wearing and that they were slowly being drenched in the water.

"What's the matter, San?" she placed on hand on my arm while the other ran through my hair, smoothing out the stray strands before cupping my cheek. I leant into her touch, closing my eyes. "Are you hurt?" she tried again.

I shook my head, moving to grab her hand on my arm and tug her towards me. She took my direction, placing herself behind me, and I adjusted myself so that I was somewhat sat in her lap, tucked into her body. My head was resting in her neck and I breathed in deeply, trying to regain my breath while sobs were still escaping.

The water was still falling, and Brittany was soaked by now, but she didn't seem to care. She just hushed me, rocking us from side to side as one hand ran through my hair, and the other traced up and down my back.

After a few minutes, my breathing started to slow down and I gradually stopped crying. Brittany noticed and quietened, knowing that I would explain myself in a minute.

"I killed Enzo," I whispered into her chest, before burrowing into her body even more.

"What?" I could tell that Brittany's face was twisting into confusion. "No you didn't, your mom did."

"I…what?" I pulled away and looked up at her slightly, blinking away the water that was falling in my eyes.

She turned the shower off before answering me. "I thought that you knew. Justin told me yesterday what happened. He said that Puck and Caterina were going to stop him, but before they could shoot, your mom had."

My face twisted in confusion. "Why would she do that? She hates me."

"No, she doesn't," Brittany said softly, "she loves you. I think that everything she did before was just to protect you. You should really talk to her about it all though."

I nodded, knowing that she was right, but then remembered my original point. "That's not what I meant though. It's my fault that he's dead. He knew that if he tried to kill me, or at least looked as though he was trying to kill me, he would be killed, but he did that anyway, because he didn't want me to do anything to him. He would have rather died than be influenced by me and my power in any way. He hated me that much."

"No one could hate you, Santana, he was just scared. He was scared of the unknown. He did what anyone in that position would do; he made a choice, and you have to accept that. It may not have been what you wanted for him, but it is what he chose and decided was best for him. There's no use dwelling on what's happened."

I nodded and snuggled into her more, resting my head against her shoulder. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes when a memory assaulted me, but it felt different than usual. It felt like it was expanding from within my mind, rather than entering it from the outside.

_I stare at her, shocked but not surprised. She could have killed me, but instead she shoved herself away from me. Away from the temptation. I follow the knife with my eyes, even though I know that she won't use it on me; at least not to kill me. I had raised her for seventeen years. No matter how much I pretend that she isn't my daughter, I can't help how I feel toward her. How I care, even if it is the tiniest bit. She is the most caring person that I know, and I feel proud to have raised someone that turned out right, even if she doesn't follow in my footsteps. She followed in her dad's. I wince, feeling the sting of betrayal rush through me again._

_I take a step to the side, away from her and closer to my desk, but the only thing she does in retaliation is let the knife follow me. I'm not worried. I have nothing to fear from death; I had dealt the card so many times before that it is almost like a friend now. I would welcome it. I could only wish that Ricardo was dealt the same hand._

_I know that Santana's done something to him; she used her godforsaken power on him and changed him into someone that he is not. She had taken my son away from me, in a way that was worse than death. I couldn't hope to meet him again in the afterworld now; he will never know who I am._

_I don't want that for myself. I want to remember everything that has happened in my life; the good and the bad. I don't want to walk around like a mindless robot, being controlled by someone else and the characteristics that they have programmed into me._

_I chance a glance around without her noticing and see that the other fight has finished, my personal guard laying in the corner. Dead or alive, I can't tell, but defeated nonetheless. _

_Puck and the woman are staring at me, their guns raised and cocked in my direction, and I smile almost fondly. It will pass quickly for me. _

_My hand inches across and under the desk, so subtly that no one notices, and I slowly remove it from its place and bring it up as close to my side as it can come without being spotted._

_I look into her eyes one more time, remembering how she had grown up. How she now thinks that she can save people from themselves. She won't save me. _

_I raise my gun in her direction, quickly enough so that it will garner the instinctual reaction I know the other people in this room possess. A shot rings out and I smile as I feel it hit me. I fall to the floor and hear two more shots. _

_My eyes close and I await Death, greeting it like the long-awaited friend it is. _

I gasped out loudly, coughing and feeling the tears leak from my eyes. I didn't know why I received that memory then; I thought that it would all be over and done with, now that he was dead. Of course, I did receive memories from ghosts, but I had overlooked that when thinking about being able to move one.

Brittany's hand rubbed from the top of my head to the bottom of my back, repeating the strokes even as I calmed down again. She didn't say anything, knowing what had happened, and that it must have been one of the worse memories.

It wasn't just who the memory was from that worried me, but the way that it had come to me. It was almost like he was inside me, like-

"We're connected," I croaked out, feeling my stomach lurch. I scrambled out of the shower and over to the toilet, feeling Brittany hold back my hair as I hunched over it, gagging.

She wrapped a towel around me and then passed me a glass of water when I finished, flushing the toilet and letting me lean against the wall.

"Who's connected?" she asked gently once I had finished drinking.

"Me and Enzo. I was in his mind when he died," I explained, "it must have latched on to mine, in a last ditch effort to stay alive. He died trying to get away from me and my power, and now he's stuck with me forever, against both of our wills."

"A bit like a horcrux then," Brittany joked, trying to lighten the situation a bit. There was nothing else she could say to that, after all. She was as optimistic as they come, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

I nodded and hummed, thinking on what she said when I saw Brittany shiver violently, and I did too a second later.

"Sorry," I apologised, standing up and passing her a towel. She thanked me with a smile and quickly shed her clothes, draping them over the towel rail to let them dry, even if it was only slightly.

She followed me into my room and grabbed some of her clothes, changing into them as I did the same, then jumped in bed, under the covers. I followed her, laying so that my back was to her front and her arm wound over my waist, pulling me into her, as her face nuzzled against the back of my neck.

I was drained, emotionally and physically, and liked the idea of just lying in bed, sleeping the day away. It was even more appealing when Brittany was with me.

* * *

><p>"I need to see Mom," I announced, walking into the kitchen the next day. Justin and Caterina were discussing what they had to do now and they looked up at me, surprised.<p>

My father quickly spun in his seat to watch me properly. "I agree, but for what reason do you want to?"

"Brittany told me that Mom shot Enzo to save me. I need to hear why she'd do that; what her reasons are for treating me the way she has her whole life, even more so recently. I need to know why she did what she did."

"We'll go see her then," he smiled. "But I promised Anna that we'd see her this morning, so we'll go around her house first, then see Maribel, alright?"

I nodded. "What time are we leaving?"

"In half an hour."

I grabbed some food for Brittany and I before retreating back to my room, wanting to spend the rest of the time with her while I could. She was going to move back in with her parents tomorrow, and I wanted to soak up every little minute with her that I could. It's not like it would be that different; I would still see her every day at school and we would go around to each other's houses all the time, but even the little gap where we had to sleep would be weird. I wasn't used to sleeping alone, and knew that I would miss the space that was constantly filled by Brittany's body.

Brittany was sitting up, watching me as I entered, and smiled when she saw the food. I passed it to her as I crawled into bed and snuggled into her side, enjoying the warmth that seeped into me.

We ate in silence, with the occasional whisper and giggle, when I told her "I have to go to Anna's house in a minute, and then see my mom after. What are you going to do?"

"What d'you mean? I'll go with you, of course. Unless you don't want me there?"

"Of course I do," I reassured her. "I just don't want to drag you into any more of my shit if you don't want to."

"It's not your shit," she frowned "it's part of your life, and I want to be there to support you, because I know that it will be hard."

I nodded, resting against my head against her shoulder. "We better get ready in a minute then, Dad wants to leave soon."

* * *

><p>We parked outside the front of Anna's house and hopped out. When we reached the door and knocked, Justin and Caterina were in the front, with me and Brittany at the back. Anna opened the door and beamed when she saw that it was us, ushering us in to get out from the cold.<p>

We stepped in and removed our coats, hanging them on the hook before turning to face Anna. She pulled me into a hug, mindful of my arm, and then did the same to Brittany, Justin, and even Caterina, who I didn't think she had met before.

"I know you told me on the phone, but I'm so glad you're alright! Seeing you in person is so different. I'm so relieved." Her eyes darted around as she spoke, showing that she was talking about all of us, and that she was worried equally.

"And we're glad you're alright," I smiled. "They didn't try anything with you, did they?"

"No," she shook her head, "I think that they were too focused on what was happening with you guys to worry about me."

I nodded, following her into the living room with everyone else and taking a seat as she sat down. Once we were all comfortable she continued "what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking from her to Justin.

"Well you don't need to worry about Enzo anymore; are you going to stay in Lima or move away? Do you have friends that you need to help out with problems, or…?"

I felt Brittany stiffen next to me and I did too, as my eyes widened. I didn't know if Justin had thought about that, but it sounded like Anna had put thought into it, which meant that it was a distinct possibility.

I looked to Justin, seeing that he was watching me for an answer. "Well I want to stay here. I have you and Brittany here…as well as my mother. I have friends and I want to continue at McKinley. I can't imagine leaving now, and I don't think that it would make sense to, now that we have nothing to worry about anymore."

I heard Brittany let out a sigh of relief and I reached out to hold her hand, squeezing it slightly as my father said "yes, I agree. I already have ideas for a long term job – working at the school was only a short term commitment, I don't think that I'd be able to handle working with teenagers for that much longer," he laughed and we all chuckled as he continued "I'd like to stay here, and Santana seems to think so too, so that's what we'll do."

"That's good, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have any friends to talk to here," Anna smiled. "I need to look for another job though, since I obviously can't work for the Lopez family anymore."

I could see my dad thinking, a glint in his eye which meant that he had an idea, and I turned back to Anna. "Why? I mean, Mother is only there now, so wouldn't that mean she'll need even more help?"

"She's moving," Anna told me gently, unsure as to how I would react. I felt surprise run through me at the news. "She said that there were too many memories there. With everything that has happened in that house she can't live there anymore, so she wants to move somewhere smaller, where she won't need a housekeeper."

I nodded, knowing that it made sense. I would have done the same if I were her; I was glad that I didn't live there anymore; I had a hard enough time coping with the memories as it was. I had lost everything, but gained even more, whereas she had lost everything, with no chance of replacing or bringing them back. I felt guilt but quickly tamped it down, deciding that I would only let myself feel sympathy for her after I had found out her reasoning for everything.

* * *

><p>An hour later we were in the car and waving goodbye to Anna as we pulled away. We hadn't talked about anything else of real importance, instead getting a chance to relax with the people I consider my family, for the first time in a while.<p>

As we rounded the corner, Justin glanced back at me in the mirror "something Anna said made me think. What do you think about moving into a larger house and hiring her?"

I looked at him in surprise, watching his face as he returned to staring at the road. "Yeah, it's a cool idea, but why? Where?"

"She said that she needs a job and we would pay her more than enough. Now that I can focus on working properly, I'll have more money coming in – not that I really needed that anyway, I just like to be safe in case there's an emergency. But we could do with the extra rooms when people come to stay, and somewhere to train would be good as well. It would still be in Lima."

"Yeah, that sounds great," I smiled, looking at Brittany when I could see the ear-splitting grin on her face. Everything seemed like it was falling into place, and I couldn't wait until I had spoken to my mother and sorted the very last thing out.

We pulled up to the house, finding the gates still hanging wide open and the place looking deserted. We piled out and moved to the front door, as we approached I took the lead and rang the bell.

It was quiet inside for a minute until I heard movement and the door swung open. She looked at me in surprise for a second before springing toward me, wrapping me up in a hug so tight I could barely move.

I gasped in pain, her arm accidentally pressing into the wound on my shoulder, and stiffened at the unusual display of affection. I couldn't remember the last time she had hugged me.

She realised that she had hurt me and pulled away, apologising profusely "I'm sorry, Santana! I didn't mean to hurt you, but I'm just so glad that you're alright. When I saw them carry you out of here…you don't know how worried I was."

I just hummed and stepped back slightly, so that I was in line with Brittany. I didn't want to have to talk and hash it all out on the doorstep.

She glanced at Brittany next to me and asked lightly "who is this?"

"My girlfriend." I tilted my chin up and cocked an eyebrow defiantly, knowing how homophobic she and Enzo were.

She bristled a little and looked like she was clenching her jaw before nodding and offering a tight smile. She looked behind us and her eyes skittered over Caterina before resting on Justin.

This was the first time that either of them had seen each other since I was a baby, since they had said goodbye.

She stared at him for several seconds, a tense silence surrounding our group. Her face cracked before she spun around, choking out a "come on in," as she wandered through the foyer into the living room.

I took the sofa with Brittany, Justin and Caterina, leaving my mother to have the seat that was further away from us. She looked happy with that choice though, and sat down quickly.

It was awkwardly silent for a few seconds, the only sound was that of people shuffling. I cleared my throat and spoke, the pain and confusion fairly evident in my voice "why did you save me?"

Her look of surprise quickly morphed into a hurt smile. "You're my daughter, Santana, of course I would. I love you and have always tried to protect you."

"What-how can you say that? Are you forgetting the way you treated me practically all my life? Like I'm dirt? You treated me more like a slave than a daughter. Not to mention the fact that you kicked me out."

"I had Enzo kick you out to keep you safe, I thought that you understood that. He was going to kill you and I knew that the only way to protect you was to get you out of the house. You had people who would help you."

She looked down then, fiddling with her hands, her eyes fastened to them. "I will admit that the way I treated you growing up was terrible. I was being selfish. I knew that sooner or later something would happen to you, whether that's your dad returning to find you, or Enzo ruining something. I tried to keep myself detached, so that it wouldn't hurt either of us as much when it happened."

I bit my lip, unsure of what to say. "Please Santana," she begged. "If I could go back in time and change the way I treated you then I would, but that's not possible. I've already lost a son and a husband; don't let me lose a daughter as well."

I looked up at her, seeing that she looked genuinely upset. She was a good actress, I just didn't know whether the person that she lied to was me or Enzo.

"Anna said that you're moving?" I asked, wanting to get off of that topic for the moment.

"Yes," she nodded, smiling tightly. "This house holds too many memories for me, mostly bad. I will stay in Lima and hope that you will want to visit me sometimes. I know that it may be unfair of me to ask that of you, but it would mean so much to me."

I took a deep breath and sighed out slowly "we're staying in Lima too, so we might see each other sometimes."

She beamed at me "great. Oh, and I'll give you some money for child support and everything." She was looking in Justin's direction, but not at him, seemingly scared of eye contact. He was about to protest but she cut over him "No, I insist. I've been a bad mother and need to try to make it up somehow. This will be one of the steps to do so. Anyway, I'll have a lot of money soon enough, from the life insurance Enzo had, as well as from selling this house. I won't know what to do with it."

I grimaced a little but nodded and looked to Justin, signalling that I wanted to leave. We hadn't been there long, but her presence was already grating on my patience, and if I wanted any chance of fixing things with her, I wouldn't be able to stay much longer.

He caught my look and stood up, everyone copying him as he did so. "We need to leave now, I have a lot of business that I need to straighten out before tomorrow. You have Santana's number, get in touch with her if you need anything."

He briskly walked to the door, pulling it open when he was sure that we were following. I shot my mother a tight smile before I left, promising myself that I would work on my relationship with her.

Things weren't perfect, but I was sure that they would get there over time. I already had a close, loving family and girlfriend that I trusted with my life. I didn't need much more in my life, but I could already feel the pieces falling into place as I left. I felt a smile spread over my face as my fingers tangled with Brittany's naturally and my father and aunt walked in front of us.

If I had to choose one good thing that had come from this mess, it would be that it changed my priorities and viewpoint. I would now appreciate my family and friends with everything in me, never taking them for granted and always telling them how much I loved and cared for them, because you never know when they will be taken away from you.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong> I can't believe that it's over; I've been writing and working on this for 8 months. The time has passed so quickly and I never expected it to get the reaction that it has. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing!

Please review one last time and let me know what you thought of it? If you have any questions about how it's ended, or if there's anything you need cleared up, then feel free to ask :)

I have a lot of one-shots in the works, one ready to be uploaded now, so keep an eye out for them :)

I have a tumblr at imaginebrittana . tumblr . com if you want to check it out. I've posted some things for this story and will continue to do so, if you're interested at all :)


End file.
